What Sabahans want to know is how 130 armed men who were heavily surrounded managed to escape.
KOTA KINABALU: The Kampung Tanduo stand-off weeks ago and the current crisis gripping Sabah is fodder for coffeeshop banters.
A litany of questions have risen over the whos, whys, whereofs and how the shock intrusion happened, the handling of the crisis, the “missed targets” and the precarious political position Sabah is in now.
The answers are still slow in coming, so the rumours, interpretations and speculations of black magic continue to circulate.
What many here want to know is how did 130 armed men who were surrounded by security forces escape, considering the entire village was deserted except for the owners whose house the intruders used?
Also baffling was the contradictory statements from the army following the attack.
Sabah State Reform Party (STAR) chairman, Jeffrey Kitingan, who is as perplexed as the man on the street about this Houdini act by the terrorists, also asked why there had been no directive for a “lightning strike or decisive action” from the Malaysian army if the village was empty.
“If there were no ordinary people within the four km square in Tanduo, then why did the police not act immediately and why did they suddenly say days later [after attack] that the armed men were trying to masquerade as civilians?
“Didn’t they say there were no more civilians within the surrounded area?” Jeffrey asked, adding that it was puzzling that the military would order a bombing within the four km area if there were still civilians trapped in the area.
Jeffrey also questioned how the aircraft could have “missed” their targets and wondered if there had been a blunder with the military intelligence.
Judging from the reports of “missed targets” following the few rounds of bombings, it was obvious that army had no clue of the target spots.
The theory among locals here is that the heavily armed Sulu men had used the airstrikes as a cover to slip out of the heavily guarded security zone unscathed.
“This [the escape] is baffling and I share the same concern of the people at large about the whole going-on, whether it is about army’s competency or government misleading our citizens,” Jeffrey said.
He also said that it is vital to bolster public confidence in the country's ability to secure its borders against similar intrusions.
He said it is best that communication briefs be handled by professionals as in other developed countries so as to bolster confidence and security.
“We cannot take our people to be stupid and easily hoodwinked into believing everything the state has to say,” he said, adding that blacking out of information on the Tanduo seige was another grave mistake by the government.
Since the attack, a special security corridor has been in place spanning the coastlines from Kudat in the north to Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Semporna and Tawau in the east-coast of Sabah.
Luke Rintod
We already make an effort to make sure that the security in Lahad Datu back to normal.
ReplyDeleteKAMPUNG Tanduo and adjacent red zone areas in the Felda Sahabat area were hit with a second wave of airstrikes yesterday afternoon as security forces intensified their operations against the Sulu terrorists.
MALAYSIA BOLEH & BROTHERS DON'T KILL BROTHERS- UMNO SOLUTION- BOMB EMPTY VILLAGES!
DeleteAnother tragicomedy or farce from the UMNO propaganda studios?
1. UMNO PUTS ON AN AIR SPECTACLE- after the armed Sulu-men now "guerrillas" had long since simply melt into the crowded friendly Filipino population allowed in by UMNO over the last 45 years. They were like "fish swimming in water"..
We ordinary citizens can NOW expect a "protracted armed struggle for liberation of Sabah" by a foreign armed force which slipped in because of UMNO's no border security policy. And may be Sarawak as the MNLF has claimed it.
ALL THIS UNBELIEVABLE DRAMA HAPPENED UNDER UMNO'S WATCH- and people died for nothing.
So UMNO cyber henchmen how can you explain this away?
Most of us would now be familiar with this Sun Tze quotation "Know your enemy know your friend....."!
In this case UMNO may be VERY confused. It has treated potential enemies as friends and brothers since 1963, pampered them with safe haven, food and shelter, trained and armed them. They treated the invaders better then their own citizens many of whom were called "pendatangs" discriminated against and threatened with deportation!
People are asking "Why has UMNO been sleeping with the enemy?"
SO is UMNO a friend of the Sabah people or an enemy of the Sabah people?
We want answers!
2. UMNO always claimed that formation of Malaysia 50 years ago was justifiable in that it would best "protect" Sabah and Sarawak from foreign invasion.
That justification was never valid from DAY 1.
WHY???
Malaya first invaded Sabah and Sarawak as part of the 60,000 strong British Invasion force to suppress the people's uprising to oppose formation of Malaysia in Brunei in December 1962.
And now we are provided with a pre-election spectacle of how UMNO is heroically defending Sabah from foreign "terrorists" by bombing empty villages after they got into Sabah through UMNO's open door "welcome brothers" policy. This is a sad falling out of bedfellows!
Less than 2 months ago these bedfellows would have been welcomed as brothers- now they are "terrorists". How changeable things can get!
Laugh or cry Sabah brothers and sisters?
By the way please don't waste our hard earned tax money bombing elusive shadows!
Look for them in Sabah's bushes - no more jungles.
Hopefully this time we manage to finish them all.
ReplyDeleteFighter jets screamed into the area about 2pm hitting targets in Sungai Merah and Sungai Nyamuk. This was followed by heavy shelling several hours later.
We make verities in attacking them, give fully support to our security force.
ReplyDeleteEarlier yesterday, explosions were also heard between 1.30am and 2.30am. However, no casualties were reported on either side.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said in the last 24 hours, however, there had been no contact with the terrorists who were believed to be scattered across Kampung Tanduo and Tanjung Batu.
"There are no indications that they are willing to lay down their weapons and surrender," said Ismail.
DeleteHe was referring to the ultimatum given by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Thursday, where he had said that the security forces would stop the offensive only when the terrorists lay down their weapons and surrender unconditionally.
Ismail also said that apart from the offensive in Felda Sahabat area, security forces had also arrested 79 sympathisers and supporters of the terrorists group all over Sabah.
DeleteHe said information from the public led to the arrests.
The suspects are being investigated under the Security Offences Special Measures Act 2012 to be read with Section 130 (c) of the Penal Code, for allegedly having possible links with the terrorists.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun has urged the people here not to allow themselves to become tools of rumour-mongering.
ReplyDeleteThe people have need to judge themselve about the reports and news.
DeleteIn a statement here, he said the people of Sabah can assist in watering down negative perception following the Lahad Datu intrusion by resisting the urge to post baseless rumours to Facebook and Twitter accounts.
ReplyDeleteJeffrey also questioned how the aircraft could have “missed” their targets and wondered if there had been a blunder with the military intelligence.
ReplyDeleteMungkin pihak yang bertanggung jawab boleh memberi penjelasan yang lebih terperinci.
Kerajaan terus menjamin keselamatan rakyat menjadi keutamaan dengan menggunakan pelbagai pendekatan bagi menyelesaikan isu pencerobohan kumpulan bersenjata yang mendakwa sebagai Tentera Diraja Kesultanan Sulu.
ReplyDeleteMenteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein berkata langkah itu sekaligus menafikan dakwaan kerajaan bersifat sambil lewa dalam menyelesaikan kes terbabit berikutan isu keselamatan rakyat jelata.
ReplyDeleteKerajaan mampu melaksanakan apa sahaja tindakan termasuklah menggunakan kekuatan tentera bagi menyelesaikan kes terbabit namun mengambil langkah pendekatan lain termasuk mengadakan rundingan dengan kumpulan berkenaan.
ReplyDelete“Pihak berkuasa boleh mengambil tindakan ketenteraan sejak hari pertama kes itu berlaku tetapi ia tidak dilakukan demi memastikan keselamatan orang ramai di kawasan itu terjamin.
ReplyDelete“Kita juga berusaha memastikan tidak berlaku pertumpahan darah di kalangan rakyat mahupun daripada ahli kumpulan itu berhubung kes terbabit dan apa yang dimahukan tidak siapa terkorban walau apapun alasannya,” katanya.
Hishammuddin menggesa agar rakyat tidak mempercayai sebarang spekulasi dan khabar angin berhubung isu kumpulan bersenjata itu.
ReplyDeleteBeliau berkata, sekiranya khabar angin terbabit mampu menggugat keselamatan negara pihaknya tidak akan teragak-agak mengambil tindakan sewajarnya.