Sabah clashes on 3 fronts, manhunt on for 10 aliens, 3 armed

A special police force guards the area near the location where armed men are holding off, during a visit by a minister in Sahabat 17 plantation farm, outside Lahad Datu on Borneo. — Reuters picKUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — Malaysia's security forces are clashing with armed foreign intruders in three districts in Sabah's east coast that have snuffed out the lives of five policemen, the inspector-general of police said today.

Tan Sri Ismail Omar said the police are working with the military to hunt down 10 suspects, three who are armed, after they escaped from a police siege in Kampung Tanduo, near Lahad Datu where a Filipino Muslim clan claiming ownership of Sabah had dug in since entering the state on February 9.

"To date, the police have succeeded in capturing three intruders who tried to escape from police siege in Kampung Tanduo," he told a news conference in Lahad Datu.

The IGP said the police and the armed forces have the situation under control and are working together to end the conflict.

A statement of the IGP's briefing was made available to The Malaysian Insider.

The manhunt, codenamed Ops Sulu, is being carried out in Lahad Datu, Kunak and Semporna.

Ismail said the security forces had been tipped off that a group of intruders had landed in the coastal area between Kampung Lormalang and Kampung Dasar Lama in Kunak, after the Lahad Datu incident.

He said police commandos have been sent in to conduct a ground assessment and to act against the Kunak group, which he said were hiding in a house there.

He said the third clash happened yesterday at 6.30pm in Kampung Sri Jaya Simunul in Semporna, and which was the deadliest, as the gunmen ambushed and shot dead five policemen who were conducting a sweep of the village.

Two of the intruders werre gunned down in the shootout, Ismail said.

"Following this incident, the police have surrounded the area where the intruders are hiding," he said.

He also said the police would not be making public the details of the policemen who were killed out of respect for the victims' families.

He advised the residents living nearby not to panic and not to listen to rumours, urging them to contact the nearets police station or check the Sabah police website for further information.

Army chief General Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin, who was also at the news conference in Lahad Datu, was reported saying the intruders had displayed combat experience and guerrilla knowledge.

"From our intelligence and observation, they have combat experience and their insurgency guerrilla tactics are quite good, I would say," the military general was quoted as saying by news portal Malaysiakini.

Zulkifeli was reported saying the intruders had placed snipers in a large public space in one of the districts. He did not name the location.

"They know we are not able to go in without casualties because of the open area," he said.

The police would not be making public the details of the policemen who were killed out of respect for the victims' families, Ismail said.

Seven Malaysians have died, to date, including two police commandos were killed in action against a Filipino militant in Kampung Tanduo, near Lahad Datu on Friday.

A Malaysian, reported to be the home owner where the Filipinos were hiding, also died in the Lahad Datu shootout.

Five other policemen died in an attack in Kampung Seri Jaya Siminul in Semporna last night.

The IGP has advised residents living near the three districts not to panic and not to listen to rumours, urging them to contact the nearest police station or check the Sabah police website for further information.

A Filipino Muslim clan claiming royal lineage from the Sulu sultanate had intruded into Sabah on February 9 staking ownership over parts of the Borneo state.

The armed group, estimated to number between 100 and 200 people, have maintained they will not surrender their claim to the land, despite entreaties from the Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.

Putrajaya, which had earlier attempted to negotiate a peaceful resolution with the gunmen, have warned they will not hesitate to resort to arms against the group to get them to leave Sabah.