JOLO, SULU?Abu Sayyaf bandits holding three aid workers as hostages fired mortars toward a Marine camp in Patikul town but instead hit a neighborhood here, wounding at least 10 people, mostly children, officials said Tuesday.

Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, head of the military?s Task Force Comet, said the bandits, led by Radulan Sahiron, unleashed the mortar barrage at 9:30 p.m. on Monday and missed the headquarters of the 3rd Marine Brigade. The wayward shells exploded in a populated area of Barangay (village) Busbus, he said.

Some American soldiers implementing social projects in the province and stationed in the camp were unhurt.

Jolo Mayor Hussin Amin said residents of Busbus fled their houses and sought shelter at the ACC Center in front of the municipal hall.

One of the shells smashed into a house and wounded all occupants, including children, Amin said. Other rounds hit areas outside the camp or landed in the nearby sea, The Associated Press reported.

Senior Supt. Julasirim Kasim, police provincial chief, said the wounded civilians were brought to the hospital.

?We were told that two of them were in serious state,? he said, without identifying the victims.

A few hours earlier, Sabban said soldiers engaged another band of bandits in a gunfight as the government intensified its efforts to rescue Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Jean Lacaba. The three volunteers of the International Committee of the Red Cross were abducted outside the provincial capitol in Patikul on Jan. 15.

Military cordon

Five Marine soldiers were wounded in the clashes that erupted in three towns starting at 3 p.m. on Monday. But two suspected bandits were killed in Barangay Lanao Dacula in Parang town, Sabban said.

Gov. Abdusakur Tan told AP that the kidnappers were trying to break through a military cordon that had boxed them in amid wild coconut groves and thick vegetation.

?The (mortar) attack was a tactic of the Abu Sayyaf to divert the ongoing military operation in Indanan town,? Sabban said.

Surrounded for days by Marines, policemen and about 600 armed civilian volunteers, the kidnappers tried to breach the cordon by firing at the soldiers, sparking a clash that prompted the military to consider the use of force to rescue the hostages, the military said.

Sabban said the soldiers repulsed the attackers. A military source said US soldiers immediately put on their battle gear and secured their armored vehicles.

?It?s not yet a full military option. We are only parrying their attack,? Tan told AP by phone.

Hostages? safety

Sen. Richard Gordon, who heads the local Red Cross, expressed concern for the safety of Notter, Vagni and Lacaba. The three were taken after inspecting a municipal jail water project.

Officials have been hesitant to resort to a military rescue and have asked about 30 Abu Sayyaf gunmen to surrender their captives unconditionally. Speculation has mounted about a ransom demand ranging from $5 million to $10 million.

Police have identified the bandits allegedly at the forefront of the kidnapping as Albader Parad and Abu Pula, among the country?s most wanted terror suspects.

The Abu Sayyaf, estimated to have more than 300 men in Jolo and nearby Basilan Island, is on a US list of terrorist organizations for its links to the al-Qaida terror network and deadly atrocities that have victimized a number of Americans.

Jolo Mayor Amin said armed men burned a dump truck owned by the local government on Monday night. The driver, whom he did not identify, remained missing.

Heightened alert

Authorities have been on heightened alert following unconfirmed reports that the Abu Sayyaf was planning to launch a major offensive on Jolo.

Amin said he told parents to look after the safety of their children and urged education officials to suspend classes.

?Teachers and parents should be very vigilant,? he said.

Jolo Councilor Luis Go said ?we were not able to sleep well last night because we conducted patrols.?

But, he said, it was still ?business as usual? as banks, pawnshops, stores, stalls and other business establishments were open.

School prayers

In Baguio City, a group of teachers and high school students from Zamboanga City asked schools to pray for the safety of the Red Cross volunteers and three teachers who were abducted in Basilan, every time they held flag ceremonies.

The Zamboanga delegation joined 2,000 representatives of the country?s schools for the arts during the opening of the second Sining Pambansa at the Teachers? Camp.

Tarcela Farolan, director general of the Teachers Organization of the Philippines Public Sector, was allowed to read a short prayer for Quizon Freires, Rafael Mayonado and Janette de los Reyes before the opening ceremonies.

The three teachers of Landang Gua Elementary and Secondary Schools were on a motorboat with seven other people when armed men believed to be Abu Sayyaf members intercepted them off Sacol Island, east of Zamboanga City, on Jan. 23.

Farolan asked all teachers and students, regardless of religion, to use 10 minutes of their daily flag ceremonies and another 10 minutes of their lunch breaks for simultaneous national prayers.

?[The Department of Education] has no budget to redeem the kidnapped teachers ... They are very poor and cannot pay [the ransom themselves] ... Only through prayers then can we combat the evil acts of men,? Farolan said.

P1-M ransom

She said the prayers were meant to ?enlighten and soften the hearts of the kidnappers ... so the teachers can be released unharmed without paying any ransom.?

?These teachers are poor. Only the mother of De los Reyes has been in contact with the kidnappers, and they have urged her to go to their politicians to pay a P1-million ransom,? she said. With reports from Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon, and Associated Press