Slain IS leaders Hapilon, Maute tried to abandon own men in Marawi escape attempt

Photo by ABS-CBN News
Photo by ABS-CBN News

Slain Islamic State-linked terror leaders Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute were ready to abandon their own men during an escape attempt in war-torn Marawi City before they were killed by government forces.

READ: Head of Islamic State group in Southeast Asia Isnilon Hapilon, Omar Maute killed in Marawi

Military spokesperson Restituto Padilla gave the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) more details about the operation that killed the two terrorist leaders on Monday, during an interview this afternoon.

He said that government forces were able to track Hapilon and Maute’s location based on information given by rescued hostages.

They were also able to give key details on where the terrorist leaders hid and how they were able to move from building to building.

“They had to be smoked out…The building was about two or three-story building, located near the corner towards the lake and the last bridge that we were able to take,” he told ANC’s Headstart.

“The circumstances of their death [was] not a good one. They were in the process of abandoning their friends, their colleagues who were left in the battlefield. They were escaping towards the lake when they were neutralized,” he said.

Hapilon was said to be the anointed emir of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia.

The clashes started last May when government forces allegedly tried to arrest Hapilon.

READ: Marawi: From a botched raid to Martial Law

Maute, with his brother Abdullah, hoisted black flags of the Islamic State group and set fire to Dansalan College in May, marking the beginning of a months-long siege in the Islamic city.

They were killed in a military offensive that started late Sunday evening and ended early Monday morning. Hapilon died of a chest wound, while Maute was killed by a shot to the head by a sniper.

Aside from the extremist leaders, seven others, believed to be Hapilon and Maute’s security detail, died in the encounter.

A day after their deaths were confirmed, President Rodrigo Duterte announced the liberation of Marawi City, after almost five months of fighting.

READ: Duterte announces ‘liberation’ of Marawi City from IS-linked terrorists  

The total casualties by the end of the battle, Padilla said, amounted to about 851 terrorists, 163 government troops and 47 civilians. Nearly 400,000 residents have also been displaced because of the fighting.

Several countries and organizations have provided aid for state troops and rebuilding efforts in the battered city, among them the United States, China, Australia, Japan and the European Union.

Duterte has ordered the creation of a task force for the rehabilitation of Marawi with an initial allocation of PHP20 billion (US$390 million).

The government has estimated the rebuilding of the city might take about two to three years.

*Re-published with edits



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