ISIL’s South-East Asia chief killed in Marawi raid
The head of ISIL’s branch in South-East Asia, who figures on the US “most wanted terrorists” list, was killed in the battle to reclaim a militant-held Philippines city, the country’s defence minister said yesterday.
Isnilon Hapilon’s death came during the fifth month of a battle to end a militant siege of Marawi, which has claimed more than 1,000 lives and raised fears that ISIL was trying to establish a regional base in the southern Philippines.
Philippine troops “were able to get Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute. They were both killed,” said defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana, referring to another militant leader whose fighters took part in the attack on Marawi in May.
The president, Rodrigo Duterte, and security analysts said Hapilon was a key figure in the extremist group’s drive to establish a South-East Asian caliphate as they suffer battlefield defeats in Iraq and Syria.
The US government had offered a US$5 million (Dh18m) bounty for information leading to Hapilon’s arrest, describing the 51-yearold as a senior leader of the southern Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf group, which the US considers a “foreign terrorist organisation”.
Mr Lorenzana said Philippine ground forces mounting a final assault on the militants in Marawi killed Hapilon and Omarkhayam Maute, one of two brothers who led a militant group allied to Hapilon, early yesterday.
DNA tests will be carried out on the two bodies because of the reward offer from the US and Philippine governments, he said.
“The implication of this development is that the Marawi incident is almost over and we may announce the termination of hostilities in a couple of days,” Mr Lorenzana said.
Philippine authorities have made several previous announcements on the imminent end of the conflict, but observers believe this time the forecast is likely to be accurate.
Pro-ISIL gunmen occupied parts of Marawi, the main Muslim city in a predominantly Roman Catholic country, on May 23 after a foiled attempt by security forces to arrest Hapilon.