A retired senior general took Prime Minister Najib Razak to task for mishandling the Lahad Datu intrusion that has so far claimed 27 lives, eight of whom were Malaysian policemen, saying that the incident could have been resolved more swiftly and efficiently if the "command structure" had been clearly spelt out.
"I had my fears this question would be asked. This question requires a deliberate response. Here we are talking about the police and the armed forces. When you have that, you need a very clear command structure ... who coordinates ... and I think it was not there. Yes we have our strategic reserve and I think the reserve we have is quite enough to take on the enemy and ake it off balance. That is the purpose of strategic reserve, if the the strategic reserve is deployed, the enemy is almost liquidated," Retired General Md Hashim Hussein told a press conference on Wednesday.
"If I can relate to Sauk a few years ago we actually managed to resolve the problem within 4 days but of course people will say it's a different scenario as apples and oranges. But within 4 days mind you, one, because of very clear command structure, two rapid deployment, very clear orders and command control plus we had the right troops to task."
Hashim, a former top army general, was speaking as a guest at a press conference convened by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng at the PKR headquarters in Tropicana, Petaling Jaya.
Hashim was referring to the Sauk Siege or Operation Dawn that took place on July 5, 2000, when a a joint police and army operation overpowered armed members of extremist group Al-Maunah at Bukit Jenalik in Sauk, Perak.
The Najib administration has been sharply criticized for not being frank enough to the public about the Lahad Datu incident, in which Malaysian security forces had to be deployed to flush out a group of some 200 armed gunmen. The intruders, who claim to be members of the Royal Army of Sulu, had slipped past Malaysia's security surveillance and landed by boats at a coastal village in Lahad Data, Sabah on February 12.
Despite a February 22 deadline to leave, the gunmen refused to leave and even now, after 2 major strikes and a climbing death toll, insist they will stay until their mission - which they say is to reclaim Sabah for their Sultan - is complete.
After tremendous pressure from the public and the Opposition, a reluctant Najib finally gave the order to the police to try and evict the gunmen. But the March 1 operation failed, leaving 14 casualties of whom 2 were policemen. The next day, another violent skirmish at Semporna, some 150 km from lahad Datu, took place, left 12 dead, six of whom where policemen.
It was only then that Najib agreed to bring in the army and on Tuesday, in a joint operation with the police, the Malaysian security forces attacked Kampong Tanduo where the majority of gunmen were believed to have been hiding. No firepower was spared, with F18 and Hawk fighter jets deployed to bomb a 4 km-square area.
Despite the pounding and sending in five battalions of soldiers, Malaysian authorities insist they have yet to recover any bodies of the Filipino militants. Only one Sulu gunman was shot dead early this morning in a brief gunfire exchange between local security forces and the 200-strong followers of the Sulu sultanate, according to Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar .
“The intruders are moving to certain areas,” said Ismail at a press conference here today, but declined to specify.
Nonetheless and perhaps because of the lack of information coming the authorities, there is widespread and huge speculation as to what was happening. Many newspapers in the Philippines have reported "atrocities" and high fatalities.
In Malaysia, according to Malay-language daily Utusan which is owned by Najib's Umno party, Tuesday's attack had resulted in the killing of 30 Sulu militants. The fate of the group’s leader, Azzimudie Kiram, was unknown despite rumours of his death, the newspaper added.
MORE TO COME
Malaysia Chronicle
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