LAHAD DATU, March 19- Security forces flushing out Sulu terrorists in the Tanjung Batu area near here clashed with the enemy on four occasions yesterday, it was revealed today. Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said no one was injured in the clashes which took place between 8.05 am and 5 pm.
He also said that security forces yesterday arrested three individuals in Sandakan on suspicion of having links with the terrorists, raising to 107 the number of people held under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012. These people would be charged in court soon, he told a news conference also attended by Army First Division commander Maj Gen Datuk Ahmad Zaki Mokhtar, at the Felda Sahabat 16 operations command near here.
Hamza said the security forces were expected to complete today their mopping-up exercise and hunt for what is believed to be fewer than 50 terrorists in Tanjung Batu.
The government launched the “Ops Daulat” offensive against the Sulu terrorists on March 5 after they killed eight policemen in Lahad Datu and Semporna on March 1 and 2. The terrorists, who had holed up in Kampung Tanduo near Lahad Datu since Feb 12, had also killed a soldier during the offensive. One soldier was killed in a road accident. Sixty-two of the terrorists have been killed so far by the security forces.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zaki said the security forces were also using 12 Adnan-type armoured cars with chain wheels to facilitate movement in all types of terrain. A total of 241 people had also been detained for having entered the red zone of the security operations and for various other offences.
BERNAMA
