More Sulu fighters slipping into Sabah?

While Sabah police have denied anything 'unusual' in Simunul and Semporna, local residents are alarmed at the tighter surveillance in the area.

LAHAD DATU: Even as the “Ops Daulat” mop-up operations entered into its “stablising” stage and East Sabah Security Zone (ESSZONE) prepares itself for the 13th general election due anytime now, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) claimed that another 1,000 of its fighters had slipped past the marine security net into Sabah.

MNLF sources claimed the armed men from nearby Tawi-Tawi and Sulu have now joined the followers of Agbimuddin Kiram, who they claim is still in Sabah. The Malaysian security forces have declared otherwise.

The sources also said that the fighters had slipped into Sabah and were ready to fight Malaysian forces.

Tawi-Tawi in the Philippines is less than 30-minute boat ride from Sabah.

Quoting from the Philippines Star, the sources said armed men had “arrived in small groups” to evade the Philippine and Malaysian naval blockade.

This is the second such report since the ESSZONE was erected along a 500km stretch from Kudat, Kota Marudu, Pitas, Beluran, Sandakan, Kinabatangan to Lahad Datu, Kunak, Semporna and Tawau.

The online website quoted MNLF spokesman Emmanuel Fontanilla confirming reports that thousands of Tausugs had begun preparing to infiltrate Sabah, since the outbreak of hostilities between Kiram’s army and the Malaysian forces on March 1.

“… the armed men arrived in small batches,” he said.

However the report did not state if it had spoken to Fontanilla last night.

Last week, the Sulu sultanate reportedly said that at least 100 heavily armed men had rejoined Kiram’s group on the outskirts of the town.

It was learnt that the 100 men were now part of the 1,000 armed followers that joined Kiram in various parts of Sabah.

Ironically it was only on Saturday that Sabah Progressive People’s Party chief Yong Teck Lee told a ceramah in Kota Kinabalu that to Malaysia the “sea is a barrier; to Suluks it is a bridge”, alluding to the ESSZONE “fortress” to prevent the intruders.

“It looks like they [federal government] are building a fortress for Sabah to prevent intruders, but the perspective from the Philippine side is very different: what we consider the sea as the barrier, the Philippine side considers it as a bridge. They [the Sulus] consider it as homecoming when we consider it as an intrusion, ” he said, adding that the federal government was on the “wrong track” in dealing with the situation .

Semporna on high alert?
Meanwhile, BorneoInsider reported that security forces in Semporna in Simunul were on high alert during the weekend.

Simunul was where the shootout between the Sulu militants and the Malaysian securities forces took place on March 2 and 3. Six police men died in this battle.

According to the report, police on Saturday denied they were on high alert or that was anything unusual about their surveillance.

But residents in the area were “clearly alarmed”.

“I am a local, but the policemen who stopped me in my car pointed their weapons at me, for reasons best known to them,” said a Semporna resident.

The resident said passengers in the other cars were forced to get out and the cars were thoroughly checked – an unsual move, considering in recent days that the Op Daulat has entered into a safe stage.

“It was clear that the police were on high alert on the possibility of intruders slipping through,” added the resident.

Meanwhile, early yesterday morning Sabah police detained two men in their 50s under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) in Tanjung Baru, Pulau Bumbum, and Semporna and that the hunt for the remnants of Sulu intruders continues.

Sabah Police Commissioner Hamza Taib said the men were “not locals”, adding that police seized a white file containing two letters from the Sulu Sultan and dangerous weapons.

“Their arrest could link them to terrorists’ activities,” said Hamza via a text message to the Ops Daulta media unit in Feld Sahabat here.

According to the SMS, the number of suspects detained under Sosma has increased to 135 while the number of terrorists shot dead, remained at 70.