Eleven soldiers were wounded in an encounter with the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf in Indanan, Sulu on Wednesday, the military said.

One soldier was hit by a bullet while 10 others suffered shrapnel wounds from a grenade blast, said Captain Jo-ann Petinglay, spokesperson of the Western Mindanao Command.

Petinglay said the military was verifying reports at least five Abu Sayyaf bandits were killed in the fighting.

It was the first encounter between the military and the Abu Sayyaf Group in Sulu since the bandits beheaded their German captive, Jurgen Kantner on Sunday.