Manila: On Wednesday, Philippine security forces declared they had killed the head of Daesh in Southeast Asia during a raid on his hideout in the southern part of the nation.

Faharudin Hadji Benito Satar, also known as Faharudin Pumbaya Pangalian or Abu Zacharia, was the leader of Dawlah Islamiyah, a terrorist organisation linked to bombings and other lethal attacks in the southern Philippines that swore allegiance to Daesh in 2015.

He was reportedly killed early on Wednesday during an operation in Marawi, the capital of the province of Lanao del Sur, according to the Western Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which oversees the southern Philippines.

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"Abu Zacharia, Amir of the Daulah Islamiyah-Philippines and Overall Amir of the Islamic State-East Asia, was successfully neutralised after resisting arrest during a joint law enforcement operation conducted at his safe house in Barangay Bangon, Marawi City," Western Mindanao Command chief Lieutenant General Roy Galido said in a statement, referring to Daesh as an Islamic State group.

"This is a major development in our fight against Dawlah Islamiyah. We are confident that the IS-inspired group in our area of operations will be destroyed as a result of Abu Zacharia's death.

Maj. Andrew Linao, spokesman for Western Mindanao Command, told reporters that during a subsequent pursuit operation in the same region, security forces also killed a senior official of Abu Zacharia's organisation.

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This time, Joharie Sandap, aka Mursid, the finance and logistics officer for Daulah Islamiyah, was the target. One M16, one Glock pistol, and explosives were found in his possession.

Dawlah Islamiyah, also known as the Maute group, was one of the groups that seized control of Marawi in 2017 alongside the Abu Sayyaf Group, another Daesh affiliate. The main leadership of both groups was assassinated by the Philippine army after five months of fighting and extensive destruction.

But after the battle, there were more attacks in the nation, and Daesh became a significant source of worry. Daesh-Philippines was added to the US Department of State's list of foreign terrorist organisations in 2018 as a result of worries that the Middle Eastern terrorist organisation was expanding its operations in Southeast Asia.

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The Philippine military also intensified its campaign against all DAESH affiliates operating there.

In Tuburan, close to Marawi, in 2019, they killed Owayda Benito Marohombsar, also known as Abu Dar. After Omar and Abdullah Maute, the leaders of the Maute group, were killed during the Marawi operation in 2017, Abu Dar became the leader of Dawlah Islamiyah.

Salahuddin Hassan, a senior Dawlah Islamiyah official, was also assassinated in Maguindanao province's Talayan in October 2021.