MANILA, Philippines—A top Malaysian terrorist has been killed by the Philippine military, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) confirmed on Thursday.
AFP spokesperson Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla said that Dr. Mahmud Ahmad has indeed been killed by government forces.
On Monday, some 20 terrorists, including Abu Sayyaf Leader Isnilon Hapilon and Maute Group’s Omar Maute were killed in a military assault.
According to Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of the military’s Task Force Ranao, it is likely that Mahmud was among the fatalities.
“There is a big possibility that Mahmud is among them,” he said.
“But we will be definite only once we have a match of probably DNA samples, maybe of the dental records,” he added.
Padilla echoed Brawner’s statement by saying that the process of confirming with finality Mahmud’s death is in the works.
In a speech before the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte said that Mahmud had been “taken out.”
“Now the other, the one they call Doc – there are 3 of them: Hapilon, Omar, and Doc – he is an Arab, he was taken this afternoon. And that completes the story,” he said.
According to a report by Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), Mahmud helped facilitate the transfer of P30 million believed to have funded the Marawi siege.
Mahmud held a doctorate degree from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he also taught Islamic Law. In 2014, he travelled to the Philippines and joined radical Islamic groups in the country.
Experts believed that Mahmud could’ve been the next ‘emir’ or leader of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia after Hapilon was killed. His death is expected to land a significant blow to terrorist groups in the country.