One of America’s Most Wanted Terrorists Is Killed as Philippine Battle Nears End by Jake Maxwell Watts – Wall Street Journal
One of the U.S.’s most-wanted terrorists was among the last remaining leaders killed Monday after Philippine forces pressed forward with their offensive to retake the southern city of Marawi from Islamic State-linked militants, authorities said.
The bodies of Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute were recovered after the two leaders were killed as they moved between concrete structures and mosques in the city’s old central business district with a few dozen other fighters and hostages, government spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.
The two were leading a last stand against government troops in Marawi, authorities said.
Mr. Hapilon is on the U.S. Department of Justice list of most-wanted terrorists world-wide, with a reward of up to $5 million for his capture. He was involved in several kidnappings, including the 2001 abduction from an island resort of 20 people, U.S. authorities say.
The deaths of Mr. Hapilon and Mr. Maute are a long-awaited victory for the government forces, who, inexperienced in urban combat, have struggled to clear the city since it was occupied in the name of Islamic State by hundreds of heavily armed fighters in May…