Slain bandit leaders Omar Maute and Isnilon Hapilon

Who would have thought that the slain bandit Omar Maute was a Citizens Army Training officer when he was still in high school?

According to Joseph Morong's report on State of the Nation with Jessica Soho on Monday, Omar went to Dansalan College, where he was active in sports and was once a CAT officer.

The report said Omar and his other siblings studied in the Middle East where their radical thinking was formed.

Aside from the attack in Marawi City, the Mautes, a well-off family, were involved in atrocities in Butig, Lanao del Sur in November 2016 and the bombing in Davao City in September last year.

Their family was also part of the ISIS-linked Ansar Al Khilafa Philippines, wherein Isnilon Hapilon was the leader.

Isnilon was the reported emir of ISIS in Southeast Asia.

He initially joined the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1985, but immediately left as soon as the Abu Sayyaf Group was established.

He became part of the kidnapping and beheading activities of the local terrorist group.

Omar and Isnilon were killed in an assault late Sunday by select members of the Army's Scout Ranger Regiment and other special forces.

Sunday had been the military's latest self-imposed deadline to rid the besieged city of terrorists, though they later said that it was not an official deadline.

Government troops also recovered other cadavers aside from the top leaders of the terrorist group. —NB, GMA News