Malaysian police said Saturday they had detained 79 suspects linked to Filipino intruders in Borneo as they intensify an operation to flush out members of a Filipino Muslim clan who took over a village last month.
The armed clansmen have caused political havoc for Malaysia and the neighboring Philippines by trying to stake a long-dormant royal territorial claim to Malaysia's sprawling, resource-rich state of Sabah in Borneo. Most of the Filipinos had eluded capture in a coastal Sabah district filled with palm oil plantations and forested hills after Malaysian forces attacked them with airstrikes and mortar fire on Tuesday.
National police chief Ismail Omar said 79 men and women, held without trial under a security law, were being investigated for their links to the gunmen.
He said they were detained outside the conflict zone but didn't give further details. The detainees are believed to be informants or food suppliers to the gunmen but it's unclear if they were Malaysians or Filipino nationals.
Ismail said a Filipino gunman was killed early Saturday after he tried to escape a police cordon, raising the death toll to 61.
The clansmen are led by a brother of Jamalul Kiram III, who claims to be the sultan, or hereditary ruler, of the southern, predominantly Muslim province of Sulu in the Philippines. Malaysia's government has rejected a call by Kiram for a ceasefire and urged the gunmen to surrender unconditionally.
International rights group Human Rights Watch on Saturday echoed a call by the U.N.'s chief to ensure protection of civilians and for humanitarian access to help those affected by the violence.
"The situation on the ground in the conflict zone in Sabah is still quite murky and the government of Malaysia should provide clear and accurate information on what has occurred," said its Asia deputy-director Phil Robertson.
The New York-based group said it was concerned over the use of a new security law to detain dozens of suspects and urged the government to charge or release them.
Fifty-three gunmen and eight Malaysian policemen have died, mainly in shootouts between security forces and the Filipino group and their suspected allies. The clansmen sneaked into Sabah by sea from the nearby southern Philippines around Feb. 9.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier this week called for dialogue among the parties to bring an end to the violence
Malaysia's government has said it made every effort to coax the Filipinos to leave and had to use force after the group fatally shot two policemen last week. Six other police officers were ambushed and killed by other Filipinos believed to be linked to the clansmen in another Sabah district. The Malaysians have killed at least 53 clansmen and their suspected allies.
The Filipinos say Sabah once belonged to their royal sultanate for more than a century and should be handed back. Malaysia has dismissed their long-dormant territorial claim to the oil-and-timber-rich state, which has been part of Malaysia for five decades.
An estimated 800,000 Filipinos, mostly Muslims from insurgency-plagued southern provinces, have settled in Sabah over the years to seek work and stability.
Eileen Ng, The Associated Press
Bilangan penceroboh militan yang terbunuh dalam Operasi Daulat membuktikan mereka tidak kebal, sekaligus menolak dakwaan penceroboh menggunakan ilmu mistik untuk berhadapan dengan pasukan keselamatan.
ReplyDelete"Ini terbukti apabila pasukan keselamatan berjaya menembak mati 54 orang daripada mereka," kata Penolong Ketua Urusetia Ketua Polis Negara (Perhubungan Awam) ACP Ramli Mohammed Yusoff.
ReplyDeleteBeliau berkata perkara itu mulai tersebar di laman sosial apabila satu daripada gambar penceroboh militan yang terbunuh menunjukkan pengganas itu memakai tangkal dan kain berwarna kuning pada badannya.
ReplyDeleteRamli berkata penggunaan tangkal itu mungkin untuk meyakinkan pengikut kumpulan itu bahawa tindakan mereka kononnya adalah jihad.
ReplyDelete"Hakikatnya hanya ilmu pengetahuan yang mampu memberikan kita kepandaian dalam mempertahan negara dan bukan ilmu tahyul yang menyempitkan akal kita," katanya.
pasukan keselamatan melancarkan gerakan ofensif terhadap kumpulan penceroboh militan di Kampung Tanduo, dan seminggu selepas Operasi Daulat, keadaan di Lahad Datu dan Semporna kembali seperti biasa.
ReplyDeleteSeramai 54 penceroboh militan ditembak mati manakala 97 lagi ditahan kerana disyaki terbabit dengan pengganas militan, pasukan keselamatan yakin insiden pencerobohan di Lahad Datu akan berakhir.
ReplyDeleteSesiapa sahaj yang terlibat dengan penganas ini, harus di kenakan tindakan tegas.
DeletePasukan keselamatan turut menahan 122 orang kerana berada dalam zon larangan Operasi Daulat.
ReplyDeleteMalah, dalam tempoh 24 jam lepas, tiada insiden berbalas tembak antara pasukan keselamatan dan penceroboh militan itu di tiga kampung yang menjadi tumpuan operasi iaitu Kampung Tanduo, Tanjung Batu dan Sungai Bilis.
ReplyDelete"Kami sedang berusaha bersungguh-sungguh untuk memulihkan keadaan dan yakin kami boleh mencapainya,
ReplyDeleteerdahulu, pada sidang akhbar bersama Panglima Satu Divisyen Infantri Tentera Darat, Mejar Jeneral Datuk Ahmad Zaki Mokhtar pada 10.40 pagi berkaitan perkembangan semasa insiden Lahad Datu, Hamza mengumumkan Kampung Tanduo, kawasan pendaratan penceroboh militan sebulan lepas, kini bersih daripada kumpulan itu.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteBagaimanapun, Hamza mengingatkan masyarakat agar tidak menghampiri kawasan operasi.
Diharapkan semua akan kembali seperti biasa, dan paling penting pertingkatkan lagi kawalan yang sedia ada.
ReplyDelete