KUALA LUMPUR, March 5- Security forces launched an offensive against the armed intruders in Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu, in Sabah at 7 am today. The offensive began with an aerial attack as three explosions were heard 30 minutes later from the direction of the coastal village in Felda Sahabat 17.
F-18 and Hawk fighter aircraft were used in the aerial attack which was followed by the firing of mortar and a ground assault by the army. The team of commandos at the frontline cordoning off the area were seen approaching the village, followed by members of the General Operations Force.
Bernama reporters staying at the Felda Residence Sahabat Hotel in Felda Sahabat 16, about 20 kilometres from Kampung Tanduo, reported that the third explosion was so huge that it caused the hotel’s windows to vibrate strongly.
Two Nuri helicopters were seen flying by. The residents of Kampung Labian and Kampung Batu, close to Kampung Tanduo, were evacuated last night. The armed intruders, from the self-proclaimed Sulu Sultanate in the southern Philippines, had holed up in Kampung Tanduo since Feb 12.
They attacked and killed two policemen and injured three others in the village on March 1. The following day, they attacked and killed six policemen in Kampung Simunul in Semporna. Eighteen of the intruders were also killed in the skirmishes with the police.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, in a statement today, said the government had to take appropriate action in the defence of the nation’s sovereignty and honour as demanded by Malaysians after measures to avert bloodshed failed.
“Our security forces were attacked and killed. Malaysians, particularly those in Sabah, are worried about their safety,” he said. Najib said the armed intruders from the southern Philippines, who claimed to be from the so-called Sulu army, fired at policemen on duty in Lahad Datu last Friday, killing two of them, and then killed six more policemen in Semporna on the following day.
“After the first attack, I stressed that the intruders must surrender themselves or the security authorities will have to act,” he said. Najib said that following the armed intrusion in Lahad Datu on Feb 12, the government adopted the approach of resolving the issue without bloodshed.
“The police held meetings and negotiations in the hope that the intruders would agree to leave peacefully without the need to take any serious legal action,” he said.
Najib said that Malaysia, as a peace-loving Islamic nation, wanted to resolve the issue through negotiation but the attempt to avert bloodshed in Lahad Datu failed.
“As the issue of the intrusion prolonged, it was evident to the authorities that the intruders had no intention of withdrawing from Sabah,” he said.
BERNAMA
