Marawi, Philippines — The head of the Islamic State group in southeast Asia, who figures on the US "most wanted terrorists" list, was killed on Monday in the battle to reclaim a militant-held Philippines city, officials said. Isnilon Hapilon’s reported death came during a final push to end the nearly five-month siege of Marawi, a battle that has claimed more than 1,000 lives and raised fears that Islamic State was seeking to set up a regional base in the southern Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte and security analysts say Hapilon has been a key figure in the jihadist outfit’s drive to establish a southeast Asian caliphate as they suffer battlefield defeats in Iraq and Syria. The military said the long-haired leader was killed in a dawn offensive alongside Omarkhayam Maute, one of two brothers who allied with Hapilon to plot the takeover of the city. "It’s a big deal for us that they were killed," US defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters, adding that Hapilon’s death ...
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