Malaysian soldiers in an armored personnel carrier drive towards Tanduo village in Lahad Datu town, Sabah where followers of the sultanate of Sulu have been in a standoff with Malaysian security forces. Malaysia on Tuesday said it had launched an assault to break the impasse. (photo by Mohd Rasfan, AFP)
Malaysia’s fierce assault on up to 300 Filiipinos reclaiming Sabah did not find any militants dead nine hours after the attack began Tuesday morning.
Malaysia's national police chief said "mopping up" operations in Lahad Datu’s Tanduo village had yet to find any dead militants and expressed fears that at least some of them might have slipped away.
The Filipinos have been holed up in the village since landing by boat last month, highlighting lax Malaysian security and the continuing threat from southern Philippine Islamists.
Federal police chief Ismail Omar told reporters in an afternoon press conference near the standoff site that soldiers were mopping up across a wide area of hilly plantation country but had yet to find any dead militants.
"I have instructed my commanders to be on alert because we believe the enemies are still out there," Ismail said.
"We of course hope that they have not escaped," he said, providing few other details.
He said Malaysian forces had suffered no casualties.
Prime Minister Najib Razak said he had no choice but to unleash the military to try to end Malaysia's biggest security crisis in years after the interlopers refused to surrender and 27 people were killed.
A day after the Philippines called for restraint, Malaysia launched a dawn assault on the estimated 100-300 gunmen, who invaded to claim Malaysian territory on behalf of a former Philippine sultanate.
Fighter jets bombed the standoff village of Tanduo in Sabah state on the northern tip of Borneo island, followed by a ground assault by troops. The area is set amid vast oil-palm plantations.
"The longer this invasion lasts, it is clear to the authorities that the invaders do not intend to leave Sabah," Najib said.
Agbimuddin's group 'intact'
In Manila, Sulu Sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani said Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, the leader of the 300 Filipinos in Sabah, had called again to say they remained "intact."
"Raja Muda called up. Now this will put to rest the black propaganda being waged by the Malaysian government that our brothers were obliterated by the Malaysian police and military. Datu Raja Muda and his followers are all alive and still kicking," Idjirani said at a press briefing in Maharlika Village, Taguig City Tuesday afternoon.
Idjirani described Agbimuddin as like a "fox," constantly moving from one place to another to evade the Malaysian forces.
Idjarani also claimed Agbimuddin had said the bombs dropped by the Malaysian air force had not hit their positions but had, instead, fallen on security forces that had massed up for the assault.
Amid the assault, an AFP reporter at a roadblock 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Tanduo saw military transport helicopters flying toward the village, as army trucks with dozens of soldiers and several ambulances sped toward the scene.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III's spokesman blamed the intruders for the assault.
"We've done everything we could to prevent this, but in the end, Kiram's people chose this path," said the spokesman, Ricky Carandang.
After a lengthy standoff, violence erupted in Tanduo on Friday with a shootout that left 12 of the gunmen and two police officers dead.
Another gun battle Saturday in the town of Semporna, hours away by road, killed six police and six gunmen, raising fears of a wider guerrilla infiltration.
Another gunman was reportedly beaten to death by Semporna residents.
Even if the Tanduo operation succeeds, the drama may not end there.
Police said at the weekend they were hunting for a group of "foreign" gunmen in yet another town, but have provided no further updates.
Followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, have warned that more militants were poised to land in Sabah.
On Monday, Aquino on claimed that the voyage to Sabah by the Sulu sultanate's followers was part of a "conspiracy" and vowed to get those he said had put thousands of lives in harm's way. However, the sultanate dismissed the claim.
In Makati City, leftist groups, who a day earlier announced their support for the sultanate's claim, staged a rally at the Malaysian embassy in Salcedo Village.
A total of 27 people have been reported killed since the first clash between Agbimuddin’s group and the Malaysians last week.
The affair has been Malaysia's worst security crisis in years, underlining instability and lawlessness in the seas between the two countries and exposing lax security along its coast.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/56417/no-dead-pinoy-found-9-hours-after-sabah-assault-agbimuddins-group-intact
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