Navy wants right to shoot on sight

Navy chief says he does not want the navy to be powerless when chasing intruders in their waters.

KOTA KINABALU: The Royal Malaysian Navy is still trying to persuade the Federal Government to loosen the existing rules of engagement under the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), giving them prerogative and discretionary powers including the “right to shoot on sight” when pursuing intruders along Sabah’s eastern seaboard.

“I had asked for the shoot on sight authority because I didn’t want it to be a case of us not being able to do anything when chasing intruders in our waters.

They run away and speed off and that’s it. We can only watch in vain,” said Navy Chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar in a statement. “We understand it (approval) will take time so we are following the current SOP for now.”

“We want to be able to do something about it.”

Abdul Aziz was in Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday to attend the opening ceremony of the three-day Asia Pacific Submarine Conference attended by about 61 participants from 18 countries.

He could not say whether the current 7pm to 5am curfew along the eastern seaboard of Sabah, extended to Sept 19, was enough but added it was “helpful” since it allowed the Navy to focus more on carrying out their duties.

He did not elaborate.