Daish leader, Isnilon Hapilon 'seriously wounded' in Philippines - Minister

A top leader of Daish militant group has been wounded in military airstrikes, the Philippine defence minister said Saturday.

Isnilon Hapilon, 50, who is allegedly on the United States’ list of ‘Most Wanted Terrorists’ was indicted in Washington for his involvement in 2001 kidnapping of three Americans in the Philippines. He has a US$5 million bounty on his head from the US government.

Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told AFP today that Hapilon was ‘seriously injured’ in military air strikes on Wednesday in the mountain town of Butig, 800 kilometres, south of Manila.

"As of (Friday, Hapilon) is still being carried by four men in a makeshift stretcher moving northeast of Butig," Lorenzana was quoted as saying to AFP.

Hapilon was involved in the kidnapping of three Americans from a resort in the western Philippine island of Palawan in 2001, according to the US.

The militants later beheaded one captive in their stronghold in Basilan island in the strife-torn south while another hostage died in the crossfire with soldiers during a rescue operation in 2002. The third American was freed.

Hapilon has pledged allegiance to IS, which has endorsed him as "amir for Southeast Asia," according to a 2016 report by the Jakarta-based think-tank Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict.

Based in Hapilon, he was based in Basilan and had moved to Lanao del Sur province this week, in an effort to establish a Daish militant group there.