A detained member of the Abu Sayyaf who was forced to become a spy for the military, put an end to his life by detonating a grenade yesterday.

The military said the man, Bochoy Laja Ordonez, could have been trying to kill the soldiers who were with him, or to escape retaliation from the Abu Sayyaf.

Ordonez's guard, military Staff Sergeant Ramile Taule, said: "I saw him holding something under a blanket. I asked him what it was. Then there was an explosion."

Taule said he tried unsuccessfully to grab the grenade but sustained shrapnel wounds to the legs and body. The incident took place at a dilapidated school building in Maluso, Basilan.

Taule said: "Although Ordonez was handcuffed, I think he managed to steal a grenade." But Taule could not explain when and how it happened.

Army Col. Roland Detabali, Southern Command chief of operations, gave another version, saying the Abu Sayyaf member suddenly grabbed a grenade that was pinned to Taule's uniform.

Ordonez wanted to toss it towards the troops, but it exploded, said Detabali.

"The soldier was able to push the rebel away from him, but he too was seriously wounded by the blast. The rebel was killed instantly."

Ordonez was an aide of Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya and was captured at a market in the village of Mahayhay, Maluso town on October 18. At that time, Ordonez admitted he was sent by Sabaya to buy food and bottled water for the hostages.

Ordonez then led the military to a hideout in a jungle outside the town on Sunday and there was a fierce clash between the two camps.

The military said 16 Abu Sayyaf members were believed killed by the helicopter gunship and other sophisticated weapons used in the attack.

"I interviewed one of the Marines and he said the enemies suffered a lot of casualties. The initial report we got was that eight were killed but the marine officers said 15 were killed and several others wounded," said Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, head of the Southern Command.

The military, however, could not give the right body count because they failed to recover the bodies of the dead Abu Sayyaf members.

The Abu Sayyaf members probably pushed the bodies of those killed into the ravine, said Cimatu.