A tip, a limping shape, and terrorists were killed
Soldiers rejoice in Marawi following confirmation that terrorist leaders Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute were killed the other day.
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — In the darkness just before dawn last Monday, the thermal monitor on the armored personnel carrier (APC) detected movement in a cluster of ruined buildings in the battle-scarred area of Marawi.
A woman who had escaped from Maute terrorists had tipped off the Army that Abu Sayyaf commander Isnilon Hapilon and Omarkhayam Maute were holed out in the ruins.
The woman told the military’s higher headquarters that Hapilon and Maute had been wounded.
With its thermal monitor, an APC of the 14th Light Cavalry Armored Troops (LCAT) detected a group of people pacing inside the building, with one of the figures limping.
The APC and a second one from the 14th LCAT under the 1st Cavalry Squadron trundled in together with teams from the 8th Scout Ranger Company and surrounded the area.
“It was clear in the thermal monitor of the tank: one person was seen limping and they were exposed and it was clear that there were no other fighters there,” a military officer narrated.
A gunner called Totoh, wounded in an encounter with Hapilon’s men earlier this year in Baguindan, Tipo-Tipo town in Basilan, aimed the APC’s .50-caliber remote control weapon system at the cluster of buildings about 30 to 40 meters away, and fired.
A burst of return fire erupted from the buildings, and the soldiers moved in, with the Rangers also opening fire. Those in the building looked like they were trying to head toward the pier to escape by boat.
Hapilon and Maute reportedly disguised themselves as women clad in malongs, the traditional wraparound clothing. They did not make it out of their lair.
A large chunk of Hapilon’s skull was blown off – a shot that military sources said could have only come from a .50-caliber machine gun.
The source said the fatal shot is believed to have come from the APC – described as a modern cavalry tank – which also battled Hapilon’s group in Basilan before being deployed to Marawi.
“They knew the first salvo, the one that hit the targets, were from the tanks,” the source said.
By daybreak, the bodies of those killed had been recovered.
After 148 days of intense fighting, Maute and Hapilon, Southeast Asian emir of the Islamic State, lay dead.
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