"But Omar Maute more or less mukhang patay na talaga itong si Omar Maute. Abdullah is still alive, still there, still inside Marawi,"Año said.
However, he did not state when Omar was killed but did not provide proof.
According to Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) deputy commander Brig. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, they are still checking if among the 200 corpse recovered from the Maute group.
"Actually, it's intelligence exchange from our troops and the Malaysian. Our troops are recovering many cadavers of Maute terrorists and 'yun nga, we are in the process of verifying 'yung mga personalities, 'yung identities nito," he said.
Gapay stated that they are currently coordinating with the Malaysian counterpart regarding Mahmoud Amad.
Not too long ago, Cayamora Maute, the Maute brother's father and also their mother in a separate arrest.
The Maute family is a part of Muslim Mindanao's elite due to their involvement in construction and property development.
Back in the 2000's, the Maute brothers studied in Egypt and Jordan and became fluent in Arabic.
Philippine Army 1st Infantry Division spokesperson Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera stated that the Maute matriach was the one who helped finance the terrorist group, recruited and encouraged radicalization of local youths.
"There are reports that Omar and Madie were killed in the operations. We are still validating this report but there are strong indications that they [were] killed," Philippine Army 1st Infantry Division spokesperson Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera said in a media briefing.
President Rodrigo Duterte is offering P5 million reward for the arrest of the Maute brothers.
Año earlier said that foreign terrorists have been eyeing to infiltrate in the Philippines but the government authorities are guarding against this.
"Kaya nga yun yung binabantayan natin dahil sa Mosul ngayon maganda rin yung effort ng allied dorces doon. In fact, they are forecasting in 6 months matalo nila yung ISIS doon. We expect na yung mga ma-displace doon pupunta ng Asia and because of the Marawi uprising, parang magnet itong Pilipinas so 'yun babantayan natin," he said.
He pointed out that there's a need of the neighboring countries should have a closer coordination and cooperation in fighting terrorism.
"Normally kasi Malaysians and Indonesian ang mga nare-recruit ng ISIS because gusto nila ng isang ISIS base dito sa Southeast Asia kaya malaking factor yan," Año said.
He noted that there were about 40 foreign terrorists monitored in he country and not everyone are in Marawi.
Source: GMA
0 comments: