BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:30 A.M.) – DNA tests have proven that the infamous Filipino leader of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh)affiliated Maute Group, “Abu Dar”, is dead.
Speaking to The Guardian, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said, “It means that the self-proclaimed Isis leader is dead. His group is leaderless in the meantime and also they are scattered after that successful operation by the army.”
Previously, Abu Dar was pronounced dead by in March after clashes inside the town of Turaban near Marawa.
“Our US counterparts confirmed his death,” Marawi commander Colonel Romeo Brawner told the Guardian.
Abu Dar, whose real name is Benito Marohombsar, was the mastermind of the Maute Group’s 2017 Marawi operations, which ultimately saw the terrorist group seize a large part of this region.
The Philippine Army would later defeat the Maute Group at Marawi, forcing them to escape to the mountains in order to evade capture.
Since their defeat at Marawi, the terrorist group tried to regroup but were unable to regain the same momentum they had in 2017.
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