Omar Maute, Malaysian financier likely killed in siege

MANILA, Philippines - One of the Maute brothers and a Malaysian financier of the siege in Marawi City are believed to have been killed as the local jihadists aligned with the Islamic State (IS) group have become increasingly constricted after a month of fighting, Armed Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Año said yesterday.

Año said Malaysian Mahmud bin Ahmad was badly wounded in the fighting in Marawi last month and reportedly died on June 7.

He said the military has a general idea where Mahmud was buried and troops are trying to locate the exact spot with the help of civilians to recover the remains and validate the intelligence received.

One of the local militant leaders, Omarkhayam Maute, also is believed to have been killed in the early days of intense fighting, he said.

Año, citing intelligence shared by foreign counterparts, said Mahmud was suspected of channeling more than P30 million to the IS-inspired Maute group to acquire firearms, food and other supplies for the attack.

A former Malaysian university professor who later turned jihadi and received training in Afghanistan, Mahmud appeared in a video showing militant leaders planning the Marawi siege in a hideout, a sign of his key role in the uprising. A copy of the video was seized by Filipino troops in a hideout on May 23.

Malaysian security officials have also received information of Mahmud’s killing in Marawi and were trying to confirm it.

Task Force Marawi spokesman Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera stressed they have yet to confirm Mahmud’s killing.

“No confirmation yet. We received also same unvalidated reports,” Herrera said in a text message.

Two other leaders of the uprising, Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon and Maute’s brother Abdullah, were still with other gunmen fighting in Marawi, Año added.

The military’s Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said they also received reports that Omar Maute and another brother Madi have been killed.

He said the information that the Maute brothers were killed by government troops was “very likely.”

Armed Forces Public Affairs Office chief Col. Edgard Arevalo said if Omar was killed during the bombing, it would be difficult for the military to recover his remains and officially confirm his death.

“We are still validating this. We have the report last week, but we could not just confirm this because if indeed he was killed in an airstrike, his body could have been blown to pieces,” he said.

Arevalo said Omar’s reported death is a welcome development. He added the military leadership was careful in handling this issue on the possibility that the terrorist leader had escaped and made it appear that he was killed.

“There are strong indications that he was killed and we are still validating this,” Arevalo said. – AP, Roel Pareño, Jaime Laude