By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines

A senior leader of a Daesh-linked group was seriously wounded and eight more militants were killed in the intensive military operations that followed the weekend deaths of at least 18 soldiers in the southern Philippines.

In a text message sent to reporters late Monday, Major Filemon Tan, spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Mindanao Command, said that Abu Sayyaf group leader Furuji Indama was wounded in the head and is in critical condition.

Saturday's fighting in Barangay Baguindan in Tipo-Tipo left at least 18 soldiers, and five militants dead -- including a Moroccan national and a son of Basilan-based Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon.

At least 53 Army troops and 20 militants were also wounded, military sources had earlier told the local journalists.

Indama has a multi-million bounty on his head and has been blamed for murder, kidnapping, deadly bomb attacks and the beheading of marines.

According to Tan, the military on Sunday deployed more troops to the Tipo-Tipo area where the clash had originally erupted, where they tracked down Abu Sayyaf senior leaders Indama and Hapilon -- on the run since Saturday's fierce gun battle.

"Four Abu Sayyaf bandits who were wounded in the encounter Saturday later died and four others were killed in fresh fighting Sunday in Tipo-Tipo," he said.

A human rights official claimed in a live interview with local television Monday that the number of army fatalities had climbed from 18 to 23, although that could not be confirmed.

Abdel Aziz Alih, head of the Regional Human Rights Commission in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, added that the commission was also looking into the reported beheading of soldiers by the Abu Sayyaf.