Hundreds of residents have fled from three villages in Lamitan in southern Basilan following fierce fighting between pursuing government troops and the Abu Sayyaf holding its remaining hostages abducted from a west Palawan island.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council in Manila said that 110 families from three villages in Lamitan have fled their residences to avoid being caught in the crossfire. Compounding the situation is that fact that there has been no evacuation centres in place to accommodate the evacuees.

Already, Basilan Governor Wahab Akbar and Lamitan Mayor Vicente Frames have given relief goods, boxes of medicine and canned food preserves to the evacuees. Likewise, the Philippine National Red Cross and Social and Welfare Development centres have been alerted for possible evacuation in Isabela town.

The NDCC report, signed by its administrator, Melgabal Rosales, said that members of the media and other civilians are being prohibited from proceeding to the encounter site in Lamitan. Also stated in the report was Akbar's statement that it was Abu Sayyaf commander Yusop Jalani and not overall leader Abubakar Janjalani who was killed in the Saturday fighting.

Akbar, who has fought alongside Janjalani and other top Abu Sayyaf leaders during his rebel days, said it is difficult to confirm Janjalani's alleged death because there is no corpse to validate the report.

He said a sister-in-law of Janjalani's came to look at a corpse left behind but said it was not Janjalani. Akbar said it is also possible that if Janjalani did die in the exchange of fire, his corpse would have been taken away by his fleeing men.

Janjalani took over the leadership of the Abu Sayyaf three years ago with the death of his elder brother Abdulrajak, the charismatic founder of the Basilan-based Islamic separatist group. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo earlier told reporters that Janjalani was killed in the clash that took place when security forces besieged the Jose Torres Memorial Hospital in Lamitan town where the rebels are holding out along with their hostages.

Four hostages among the 20 taken by the Abu Sayyaf on May 27 managed to escape on Saturday during the height of the fighting, while another five fled their captors yesterday after the rebels breached a security cordon set up by the military in Lamitan.

Saturday's skirmish severely damaged the hospital and the adjacent St Peter's church which the rebels tried to torch along with four houses as they fled along with the remaining hostages and an undetermined number of captives, including doctors and hospital staff.

The military said an undetermined number of Abu Sayyaf has been killed as well. On the military side, 12 soldiers, including a captain, have been killed and 38 wounded. Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan, armed forces spokesman, said the military could not find any dead bodies because the Abu Sayyaf always buries its dead before sundown.

Adan also said that they had no report on the death of Janjalani. Adan said the military will continue its pursuit of the fleeing Abu Sayyaf group without let-up. "It is possible that they have regrouped and are trying to escape from the town proper," he said.

Adan said there were 60 to 100 Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Basilan. "But they were scattered. They were not all inside the hospital," he told newsmen in Zamboanga City. He said some Abu Sayyaf members were guarding the perimeter, sniping at the soldiers who were trying to assault the hospital.

"The troops are trying to encircle the compound, but they cannot come near because of snipers," he also said.