MANILA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine military said on Friday they believe five other Maute brothers are dead besides one of the leaders, Abdullah Maute, was reportedly dead earlier, leaving only Omar Maute directing the fight in Marawi City on Mindanao island.
The fighting between tthe Philippine government and Islamist extremist Maute Group under the leadership of two Maute brothers, who have pledged to IS, has left 653 terrorists and 145 soldiers killed to date since its beginning on May, 23.
"To our knowledge, 7 siblings are involved in the group....They have reason to believe that only one of the Maute brothers remains in the fight, and this is Omar. The rest are believed to have been killed," military spokesperson Restituto Padilla said in a briefing in Manila, noting the report comes from Western Mindanao Command.
He added that before a categorical statement can be issued, Maute brothers' bodies need recovering and subjecting to DNA testing as the military made this announcement based on their intelligence.
The military said on Monday that Abdullah Maute, commander of the group's military operations, might have been killed, citing information culled from social media the extremists are using.
In another press briefing in Marawi City on Friday, Joint Task Force Marawi spokesman Jo-ann Petinglay said the battle zone has narrowed down to about 20 to 21 hectares land area, comparing with one square kilometer main battle area yet to be cleared last week.
Last week, the local military said they were preparing for a final push to liberate the city and they assumed the war could be over before October.
