By Jaime Laude
MANILA, Philippines - A military airstrike in Marawi City last week reportedly killed local terrorist leader Omar Maute.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Eduardo Año, however, said ground forces were still validating Omar’s reported death in an airstrike last May 28.
Año said another Maute sibling was killed in an airstrike in Butig last February.
Until reports of Omar’s death are confirmed, Año said he would continue to assume that the terrorist leader is alive.
Año stressed that AFP troops are gaining ground on the Maute gunmen as the offensive in Marawi enters the third week.
Officials said the defense put up by the Maute terrorists in the city is crumbling and it will just be a matter of time before they are decimated.
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