Troops kill 13 militants as hunt widens

Malaysian forces suffered no fresh casualties, said Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

LAHAD DATU: Security forces killed 13 terrorists as they expanded their hunt for the armed group today, a day after an assault with fighter jets, mortars and hundreds of troops, according to Reuters.

The nearly month-long confrontation was sparked when the armed group of about 200 sailed from the nearby southern Philippines to press an ancient claim to the resource-rich region.

At least 40 people have been killed, including eight Malaysian policemen, raising concerns of broader insecurity ahead of the country’s general election.

“The total is 13. There could be more,” Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters at a media centre set up at a palm oil plantation called Felda Sahabat.

Zahid, who produced what he described as pictures of some of the dead militants, said Malaysian forces had suffered no fresh casualties since the assault was launched yesterday.

Allies of the group in Manila said they had been in telephone contact with Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, the militants’ leader and the brother of the self-proclaimed sultan, who said the group had split up to avoid detection.

Abraham Idjirani, a spokesman for the group, told Reuters that 10 of the sultan’s followers had died, with 10 captured and four wounded.

“They will not come home and would rather die fighting if cornered,” he said of the remaining followers in Sabah.

The family in Manila also said more followers had arrived to reinforce the group, a journey between the Southeast Asian neighbours that takes around an hour by speedboat.

Army trucks carrying dozens of soldiers continued to enter the village of Kampung Tanduo where the group had originally been holed up. A helicopter hovered overhead.

Situation under control

Meanwhile, Bernama reports that the operation, codenamed “Ops Daulat”, continued with sweeping and mopping-up activities from house to house within four-km radius of the village.

The operation area had now been expanded to track down the terrorists who were believed to have moved to certain areas.

Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar advised the people in the area to be extra careful and to get

latest information at the nearest police station or tactical post of the national security.

“I would also like to ask the public not to panic as the national security forces have the situation under control,” he said at a joint press conference with Armed Forces Chief General Zulkifeli Mohd Zain

Zulkifeli said the security forces were now expanding the area of their sweeping and mopping-up operation to look for firearms believed to have been buried in the area.

“We believe that there are still remnants of the terrorists in the Kampung Tandua area,” he said.

- Agencies