Malaysian PM confirms 2 commandos dead, 3 others injured in Borneo gunfight

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 1): Malaysian PM confirms 2 commandos dead, 3 others injured in Borneo gunfight

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed Friday that two Malaysian commandos were killed in a mortar attack while three others injured in a gunfight between security forces and a Filipino rebel group holed up in the Sabah state.

The rebel group first opened fire on the security force, Najib said, adding that 10 to 12 gunmen were killed. Najib said he was regret for the bloodshed, which his government had tried hard to avoid.

Meanwhile, full mandate has been given to Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar and the Armed Forces Chief Zulkefli Mohd Zin to take necessary action.

Sabah police chief Hamza Taib told a press conference that all 12 gunmen ventured out of the village they occupied had been killed. Police said the bodies of the two killed commandos will be flied back to Kuala Lumpur before mid-night.

Earlier reports said Malaysian security forces had advanced into Tanduo village on Friday morning after the rebel group fired at police and refused to heed an ultimatum set by both the Filipino and Malaysian authorities to leave. The Malaysian government has set last Sunday a deadline for the rebel group to leave Malaysia but the Filipino government extended it to Tuesday.

Malaysian authorities have been in a standoff since Feb. 9 with a group of about 180 armed Filipinos who invaded Tanduo village in Sabah's eastern Lahad Datu to reclaim the area as their ancestral territory. Dozens of families living in the village were said to have been displaced following the Sulu rebels' occupation.

Rounds of negotiations by officials from both Malaysia and the Philippines with the rebel group failed as the rebel group insisted they would never surrender. The intruders were followers of Philippine sultan based in restive southern Philippines, Jamalul Kiram, who insisted Sabah was his home and that his Sulu sultanate once controlled parts of Borneo.

Analysts said the group had resorted to invading Sabah after they felt being left out in a landmark peace deal between the Filipino government and Muslim separatist group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that was brokered by Malaysia.

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