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[av_heading heading=’ AFP says Malaysian terrorist likely killed ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Friday, October 20, 2017
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MANILA – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) believes Malaysian Dr. Mahmud Ahmad was one of the 13 terrorists killed in an operation by government forces in Marawi City on Wednesday.
General Eduardo Año, AFP chief of staff, told a news conference on Thursday they are “increasingly becoming confident” Ahmad is now dead and they are just awaiting verification from the ground.
“The AFP is increasingly becoming confident that he was among those who have been killed during (Wednesday’s) operations. The process to confirm this with finality, however, is still ongoing,” Año said.
Earlier Año estimated about 30 terrorists left in Marawi after their leaders Hapilon and Omar Maute were killed on Monday.
Moreover, Año said they rescued seven more hostages on Wednesday from among the 20 left since Maute and Hapilon were slain.
“We were able to get seven more and rescued a mother and her daughter, [who] is about 15 or 16 years old,” the AFP spokesperson said. “She has a splinter wound but is out of danger.”
The conflict started on May 23 after the state forces’ botched attempt to arrest Hapilon.
Extremists laid siege to the Muslim city, forcing President Rodrigo Duterte to place the entire Mindanao under martial law. The proclamation was extended until the end of the year.
On Tuesday, Duterte declared Marawi “liberated from terrorist influence” and called for the start of rehabilitation efforts./PN
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