ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits beheaded a militiaman and injured another in a clash Saturday morning in Maluso, Province of Basilan, a police official said.

Chief Inspector Edwin Placio, Maluso police chief, said the clash occurred around 5:40 a.m. Saturday in the village of Townsite.

Placio identified the decapitated militiaman as Daning Lumayon, and wounded was his brother, Kilah, who was taken to a hospital in Isabela City, the capital of Basilan province.

Placio said the Lumayons were on foot patrol when they clashed with 20 Abu Sayyaf bandits. The bandits took Lumayon’s M-16 Armalite rifle and ammunition and fled.

Placio said two of the 20 Abu Sayyaf bandits were wounded when they figured in a five-minute clash with pursuing government troops around 5:50 a.m. Saturday in the village of Upper Mahayahay, Maluso.

He said policemen and another group of soldiers have established blocking position as the 14th Special Forces Company troops continue to pursue the bandits in the hinterlands of Upper Mahayahay.

He said 20 families have evacuated from the village of Upper Mahayahay to the town proper of Maluso.