Fifty-two supporters of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III have been killed since the standoff began over 3 weeks ago, Malaysia's police chief said Thursday.
In the last 24 hours alone, Malaysian troops shot and killed 32 followers of the sultan, according to Malaysia's police chief Ismail Omar.
The fatalities included "high-ranking general," Ismail claimed.
He did not identify the alleged general, according to Malaysian news website The Star Online.
"As of now, the death toll among the Sulu intruders stands at 52. At this point of time no further information can be given," Ismail told media.
A total of 31 were killed in Kampung Tanjung Batu while another was shot dead in Kampung Tanduo, he said.
"Our operations have gone into new territories. Initially we were in Kampung Tanduo, now into Tanjung Batu and Tanjung Labian," he added.
Eight Malaysian policemen died in earlier skirmishes.
Troops and police are currently hunting the remnants in a remote region of Borneo island, where they landed last month to assert a long-dormant territorial claim in what has become Malaysia's worst security crisis in years.
A spokesman for the Manila-based sultan, who called for a midday ceasefire, said 235 people including eight women took part in the original incursion.
Prime Minister Najib Razak, who flew to the region Thursday to inspect security operations, said he told Philippine President Benigno Aquino by phone the ceasefire offer was rejected.
"I told President Aquino they must lay down their arms immediately," Najib told reporters in a village near where the army and police were searching for scores of militants.
"They have to surrender their arms and they have to do it as soon as possible."
Kiram declared a unilateral ceasefire for 12:30 pm (0430 GMT) and urged Malaysia to reciprocate.
Kiram says he is heir to the Sultanate of Sulu, which once ruled islands that are now part of the southern Philippines as well as Sabah.
But Najib said Malaysian forces would press on with the offensive, sending more soldiers into the hilly region of vast oil palm estates and pockets of jungle.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said late Wednesday that his government might seek Kiram's extradition if Manila failed to take action. But the Philippine government said that was unlikely, citing the lack of an extradition treaty.
Malaysia launched an air and ground assault on Kiram's supporters Tuesday after a two-week standoff.
Security officials say many of the militants likely escaped Tuesday's attack and are still at large.
"We want the militants to unconditionally surrender and hand over their weapons," Najib told a news conference at the Felda Sahabat palm oil plantation in Sabah, making his first trip to the conflict area since the standoff began a month ago.
If they do not surrender, Najib said the military would continue to track them down "for as long as it takes to eliminate them."
Razak also announced formation of a "special security area" comprising Kunak, Tawau, Lahad Datu, Sandakan and Semporna in Sabah, according to state news agency Bernama.
The confrontation in Sabah in Malaysia's part of Borneo island was sparked when the armed group arrived from the nearby southern Philippines to press an old claim to the resource-rich region.
It has strained relations between the Southeast Asian neighbors and prompted speculation that Najib may delay a national election he had been expected to call as early as March and which must be held by June.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged a peaceful resolution of the bizarre incursion.
"(Ban) urges an end to the violence and encourages dialogue among all the parties for a peaceful resolution of the situation," said a statement released by his office late Wednesday. - with reports from Agence France-Presse, Reuters
source: abs-cbnnews.com
Showing posts with label Sabah Stanoff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sabah Stanoff. Show all posts
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
Google hacked over Malaysia-Filipino standoff
KUALA LUMPUR - Supporters of an armed bid by Filipino intruders to lay claim to a Malaysian state took their campaign to cyberspace on Monday, manipulating Google search listings to show a message backing the incursion.
A Google search for the word "Sabah", the state at the centre of Malaysia's biggest security crisis in years, came back with a search results page that quotes "Wikipedia" calling Malaysian control of the state "illegitimate."
"Sabah is illegitimately considered one of the 13 member states of Malaysia, and is said to be its easternmost state but in fact, it is part of the Sultanate of Sulu," the passage read, shown in a box previewing the Wikipedia entry for Sabah.
Malaysians have been shocked by the militant incursion, which began when an estimated 100-300 people landed on the shores of Sabah on February 12, claiming the state for the heir to a former Philippine sultanate.
The website of Stamford College in Malaysia was apparently hacked at the weekend, its front page replaced by a message that said: "The time has come to reclaim what is truly ours."
"Sabah is owned by the Philippines, you illegally (sic) claiming it," it said.
Philippine news portals have said a number of sites in the country were hit by pro-Malaysia hackers.
A tense stand-off between the intruders and security forces who have them pinned down in the farming village of Tanduo erupted in a bloody firefight Friday that left 12 gunmen and two police officers dead.
Another gun battle erupted Saturday in Semporna, hours away from Tanduo by road, dramatically escalating tensions and raising the overall toll of reported dead to at least 18 militants and eight police officers.
Followers of the 74-year-old Manila-based Islamic leader, Jamalul Kiram III, say the gunmen are ready to die to defend his claim to Sabah, which was once controlled by the now-defunct sultanate.
source: abs-cbnnews.com
Friday, March 1, 2013
14 dead as Sabah standoff continues
'This is just the beginning,' sultan's spokesman warns
KUALA LUMPUR - Twelve followers of a self-described Philippine Sultan died in a shootout with Malaysian security forces Friday, police said, as tensions ratcheted up in their 17-day standoff.
Hamza Taib, police chief of the Malaysian state of Sabah, also said two security personnel were killed and that the standoff with the Filipino intruders continued, contradicting earlier official statements suggesting it was over.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak expressed regret over the bloodshed but said he had authorised police and armed forces to take whatever action necessary to end the impasse.
"I am very sad over the incident because what we had wanted to prevent, which is bloodshed, had actually happened," he said.
The two Southeast Asian neighbours were caught by surprise on February 12 when dozens of followers of the little-known sultan of Sulu sailed from their remote Philippine islands to press the sultan's claim to Sabah, which is on Borneo island.
Jamalul Kiram III, 74, says he is heir to the Islamic Sultanate of Sulu, which once controlled parts of Borneo, as well as southern Philippine islands.
Hamza said the shootout was sparked when the intruders, who have been estimated variously at between 100 to 300 people, fired Friday at security forces as they were tightening their cordon in a remote corner of Sabah.
"The intruders fired at us, then we returned fire," he said.
"As a result of the fire, two of my men died, three were injured and... 12 intruders died."
"The operation is still going on," he said, adding that police continued to surround the area where about 100 people were left.
Malaysia's state news agency Bernama reported earlier that two police commandos had been killed in a mortar shell explosion as they patrolled around the village where the gunmen were holed up.
Kiram's spokesman Abraham Idjirani earlier claimed that Malaysian snipers had killed 10 of the sultan's men and wounded four other members of the group.
However, Malaysian officials initially denied that any deaths had occurred.
The leader of the invaders, Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, a brother of the self-proclaimed sultan, avoided capture in the shootout and remains in Sabah with his men to continue the fight, Idjirani added.
"This is just the beginning," he warned.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino's office expressed regret over the deaths.
"We deeply regret the loss of life," Aquino's spokesman Ricky Carandang said in a short statement sent to AFP.
"Our priority since this began was to resolve this peacefully. We have maintained that this action of the Kirams was not the correct way to assert their claims."
Earlier, Philippine foreign department spokesman Raul Hernandez said he was told by Malaysia's ambassador that the confrontation had ended with the shootout.
Hernandez said Manila had formally demanded a full account of the shootout as well as access to any detained Filipinos.
The Islamic Sultanate of Sulu leased northern Borneo to Europeans in the 1870s.
While the sultanate's authority gradually faded as Western colonial powers exerted their influence over the region, it continued to receive lease payments for Sabah.
The former British colony became part of the federation of Malaysia when it was formed in 1963.
Kiram and the other heirs of the sultan still receive nominal annual compensation from Malaysia -- the equivalent of about $1,700.
Idjirani suggested last week that the men would stand down if the compensation was substantially raised.
source: abs-cbnnews.com
KUALA LUMPUR - Twelve followers of a self-described Philippine Sultan died in a shootout with Malaysian security forces Friday, police said, as tensions ratcheted up in their 17-day standoff.
Hamza Taib, police chief of the Malaysian state of Sabah, also said two security personnel were killed and that the standoff with the Filipino intruders continued, contradicting earlier official statements suggesting it was over.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak expressed regret over the bloodshed but said he had authorised police and armed forces to take whatever action necessary to end the impasse.
"I am very sad over the incident because what we had wanted to prevent, which is bloodshed, had actually happened," he said.
The two Southeast Asian neighbours were caught by surprise on February 12 when dozens of followers of the little-known sultan of Sulu sailed from their remote Philippine islands to press the sultan's claim to Sabah, which is on Borneo island.
Jamalul Kiram III, 74, says he is heir to the Islamic Sultanate of Sulu, which once controlled parts of Borneo, as well as southern Philippine islands.
Hamza said the shootout was sparked when the intruders, who have been estimated variously at between 100 to 300 people, fired Friday at security forces as they were tightening their cordon in a remote corner of Sabah.
"The intruders fired at us, then we returned fire," he said.
"As a result of the fire, two of my men died, three were injured and... 12 intruders died."
"The operation is still going on," he said, adding that police continued to surround the area where about 100 people were left.
Malaysia's state news agency Bernama reported earlier that two police commandos had been killed in a mortar shell explosion as they patrolled around the village where the gunmen were holed up.
Kiram's spokesman Abraham Idjirani earlier claimed that Malaysian snipers had killed 10 of the sultan's men and wounded four other members of the group.
However, Malaysian officials initially denied that any deaths had occurred.
The leader of the invaders, Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, a brother of the self-proclaimed sultan, avoided capture in the shootout and remains in Sabah with his men to continue the fight, Idjirani added.
"This is just the beginning," he warned.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino's office expressed regret over the deaths.
"We deeply regret the loss of life," Aquino's spokesman Ricky Carandang said in a short statement sent to AFP.
"Our priority since this began was to resolve this peacefully. We have maintained that this action of the Kirams was not the correct way to assert their claims."
Earlier, Philippine foreign department spokesman Raul Hernandez said he was told by Malaysia's ambassador that the confrontation had ended with the shootout.
Hernandez said Manila had formally demanded a full account of the shootout as well as access to any detained Filipinos.
The Islamic Sultanate of Sulu leased northern Borneo to Europeans in the 1870s.
While the sultanate's authority gradually faded as Western colonial powers exerted their influence over the region, it continued to receive lease payments for Sabah.
The former British colony became part of the federation of Malaysia when it was formed in 1963.
Kiram and the other heirs of the sultan still receive nominal annual compensation from Malaysia -- the equivalent of about $1,700.
Idjirani suggested last week that the men would stand down if the compensation was substantially raised.
source: abs-cbnnews.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)