Abdul Basit Usman

Early life Usman was born in 1974 in Labo-Labo, a village in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur in the southern Philippines.

Upon his escape, Usman joined Tahir Alonto, a former commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front whom the military had accused of leading the Pentagon gang, a kidnap-for-ransom group. Usman later offered to turn himself in. Senior Inspector Aucelito Cabang, who was Usman's custodial officer, entered Alonto's territory with three other officers to arrest Usman, but was killed in what turned out to be a trap. Later, he was also reported to have been killed in a series of military shellings in Maguindanao del Sur. On 25 January 2015, he was one of two targets in the Mamasapano clash in Mindanao. His companion Zulkifli Abdhir, the other target, was killed in the raid, but Usman escaped and fled into the Liguasan Marsh. The military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front launched offensives to find and capture him, with President Aquino vowing, "We will get Usman."

Death Usman was killed in an encounter with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on 3 May 2015 in Guindulungan, Maguindanao del Sur. It was suspected that one of his bodyguards killed him in order to collect the $1 million bounty on his head. According to a statement from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, "There was in-fighting among his bodyguards. When he was killed, he had 7 bodyguards — but these bodyguards were not the most loyal to him."

However, the Armed Forces of the Philippines later backtracked on that claim and confirmed that Usman was killed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.