Foreign threats play cat and mouse games with our forces in Sabah

From the Star Malaysia (Sep 5, 2021): Foreign threats play cat and mouse games with our forces in Sabah

THE preferred route for Indonesian militants to enter the southern Philippines is through Sabah.

A regional intelligence source (who we cannot identify) explains that this is because other routes, like from Manado, north of Sulawesi in Indonesia, to Davao, south Mindanao in the Philippines, are unreliable.

“The ferry service from Manado to Davao is off and on. But there’s a daily ferry service from Makassar to Tarakan and then Nunukan in Kalimantan and then to Tawau, on the east coast of Sabah,” he says, explaining transportation routes before the Covid-19 pandemic.

From Tawau, the radical fighters would go to Sandakan or Semporna to take boats – legal or illegal – to Tawi Nunan or Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines. Even with Covid-19, there is still a daily movement of people from Indonesia to Sabah and then to the southern Philippines.

Sabah appears to be a transit point for Indonesians who want to join terror groups or learn to make IEDS (improvised explosive devices) in the Philippines.

“They will not conduct terror attacks in Sabah. It is only a place to rest, look for money, smuggle arms and then move out,” says the source.

Stanislaus Riyanta, a security and terrorism expert based in Jakarta, says Sabah is a transit point for JAD members heading to the Philippines from Indonesia. (JAD is Jemaah Ansharut Daulah, an Indonesian radical group connected to the Islamic State group.)

He says JAD top brass Saefullah also has strong ties with the Abu Sayyaf group on Jolo island.

“Indonesia’s radical groups have long had a relationship with the Abu Sayyaf and other groups in the Philippines,” he notes.

But for some, Sabah is not only a transit point but a place to make money to fund their terror activities. Some Indonesians don’t go straight to southern Philippines destinations like poverty-stricken Jolo Island because there are no jobs there.

“In Sabah, they can do odd jobs on highway projects, oil palm plantations or vegetable farms,” says the source, adding that they can make between RM1,000 and RM1,500 a month.

From Tarakan in Indonesia, the militants will enter Kalabakan in Tawau, Sabah, and go by road to Keningau to look for jobs.

Former Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali says that there is no doubt the interior of Sabah is a good hiding place for militants. But he says the police work hard to collect intel on them.

“We have managed to arrest suspects in Keningau, Tenom and Sipitang in the last few years,” says Hazani, who was promoted to Internal Security and Public Order Department director on Thursday.

However, Indonesian fighters like Andi Baso and Jolo suicide bombers Rullie Rian Zeke and his wife Ulfah Handayani Saleh did not stay in Tawau, Semporna or Sandakan on Sabah’s east coast, where most militants from Indonesia and the Philippines could blend in as there are large immigrant communities there.

The source says the Indonesians, who are of Bugis descent, pick Keningau to stay because nobody would suspect them of being militants – why would such people want to live the state’s interior? They also understand the geography and demographics of Keningau.

“They know there are more Dusun in Keningau and security forces won’t think a militant would be staying among them as they are known to prefer to live on the east coast of Sabah,” the source says, adding that they live in Filipino/indonesian squatter settlements in Keningau.

“They also know the terrain. From Keningau, they can escape to Luasong in southern Tawau bordering Kalimantan and Pensiangan (in Sabah).”

The source also notes that intelligence officers are less alert about militants in Sabah’s interior, unlike their counterparts on the state’s east coast. He observes that it is also easier to travel by road to Keningau from Tawau as there aren’t many security checkpoints.

For example, he says information that Abu Sayyaf subcommander Sansibar Bencio was hiding in a swamp next to a residential area in Beaufort, a town on the west coast of Sabah about 96km from Kota Kinabalu, came from the Philippines intelligence. Malaysian police arrested eight Abu Sayyaf members, including Sansibar, in Beaufort on May 8.

Former Sabah Police Commissioner Hazani says the police intelligence unit is very serious about and alert to foreign militants using the state as a base.

“Our security forces take appropriate action. We gather intel and reconfirm with other countries and we are always on alert,” he says.

The source says JAD has a base in Sabah to recruit Indonesians, Filipinos, Sabahans (of Indonesian origin) and those who are stateless – the stateless, usually refugees, are in limbo so they are vulnerable.

“They can’t find work or enter university, so they are frustrated. One way they can release their frustration is through militant activities,” he says.

“JAD does the recruitment in Tawau, not in Bingkor. Bingkor is a place to work and make money. Tawau is where you find many stateless Indonesians and Filipinos, especially in Kinabutan.”

The source says the recruits are sent to Indonesia for religious studies in pesantren (religious boarding schools). After completing their studies, they return to Sabah and head for Jolo Island for weapons training or to learn how to make IEDS.

Asked how he would assess JAD’S presence in Sabah, the source says there is no threat at the moment.

“They are in Sabah to raise funds. Once they have money and after the Covid-19 vaccination, they will travel to Jolo and back to Indonesia. In Jolo, they do arms training and meet brother fighters,” he says.

Sabah is where foreign threats play cat and mouse games with the vigilant Malaysian security forces.

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