How Philippine Forces Killed Terrorist Leaders Maute, Hapilon In One Of Last Marawi Seige
Terrorist leaders Isnilon Hapilon of the Abu Sayyaf and
Maute group figurehead Omar Maute were killed by sniper fire before dawn in
Marawi on Monday, October 16, four months after the two led armed militants in
laying siege on the southern Islamic city.
Philippine Military sources said the Islamic
State-affiliated duo and their followers were among more than a dozen gunmen
killed in gunfights where Scout Rangers used remote-controlled devices to
pinpoint their exact locations.
Hapilon and Maute were felled one after another by snipers
using long-range rifles fitted with night-vision scopes.
Maute was killed with a headshot, while Hapilon died from a
bullet in his chest.
Armed Forces chief Eduardo Año said at a news conference
that the two terrorist leaders were dashing from one building to another during
a final assault by the military.
The gun battle lasted from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., concluding the
months-long pursuit for the two notorious radicals.
Maute and Hapilon’s
remains were found in separate locations by pursuing combatants of the Army’s
8th Scout Ranger Company, according to senior members of the League of Mayors
in Lanao del Sur and incumbent officials of the provincial government.
Secretary Año said the corpses were positively identified by
some of the slain militants’ relatives as well as by members of the Maute group
who have earlier surrendered.
Their deaths are seen as signaling the end of the
months-long standoff between extremist militants and state forces that led to
one of the worst humanitarian and security crises in recent years.
The STAR received text messages from relatives of Hapilon in
the adjoining Maluso and Lantawan towns confirming his death.
“Wafat neh Sir. Sure ne teed,” a cousin said in
Yakan dialect via a text message, which translates to “Hapilon is dead.
The clan is sure about it.”
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said a top Malaysian
militant, Mahmud bin Ahmad, who uses the nom de guerre Abu Handzalah and is a
close associate of Hapilon, has not been found and was among the remaining
militants being hunted by troops.
Military leaders had said last month that three leaders of
the militants who began the siege of the lakeside city on May 23 were killed in
the months of fighting but the two still alive were leading a final stand.
Among the last batch of surviving fighters were about 10
foreigners, mostly Malaysians and Indonesians, but there were no immediate word
about their condition, the military said.
The U.S. State Department has offered a reward of up to $5
million for Hapilon, whom Washington blames for ransom kidnappings of several
Americans, one of whom was beheaded in 2001 in southern Basilan province.
Hapilon had been indicted in the District of Columbia for
his alleged involvement in terrorist acts against U.S. nationals and other
foreigners.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in the Marawi
violence, including more than 800 militants.
Army Col. Romeo Brawner said Sunday about 40 militants were
still fighting in a small hilly residential area by Lanao Lake, including 100
relatives of the gunmen and civilian hostages.
Watch the video report below via PTV:
Source: Philippine Star
Watch the video report below via PTV:
Source: Philippine Star
How Philippine Forces Killed Terrorist Leaders Maute, Hapilon In One Of Last Marawi Seige
Reviewed by Yen
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October 16, 2017
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