Security forces set to 'dominate' three zones
The security forces are expected to take control of three areas in Felda Sahabat, Lahad Datu by tomorrow morning under Ops Daulat, said Armed Forces chief Gen Zulkifeli Mohd Zain.
The security forces are expected to take control of three areas in Felda Sahabat, Lahad Datu by tomorrow morning under Ops Daulat, said Armed Forces chief Gen Zulkifeli Mohd Zain.
He said that the security forces are expected to “clean up” the areas of Kampung Tanduo, Sungai Nyamuk and Tanjung Batu by tomorrow morning.
“Besides cleaning up these areas, we will also 'dominate' these places with (our) troops using specific systems, to make sure that the enemies are unable to enter these areas again,” he told a press conference today.
Inspector-general of police Ismail Omar was also present.
The security forces are strengthening their armoury as Zulkifeli said that several helicopters and at least 12 tracked armoured personnel carriers are expected to arrive within days.
“We want to convince all Malaysians, specifically the Sabahans, that we have the strength to defeat our enemy,” he added.
Ismail said that he had ordered Sabah police commissioner Hamza Taib and other district police chiefs in Sabah, to mobilise more police personnel to facilitate the operation.
Other than the criminal investigation and narcotics departments, he said that the police will also mobilise the police in the logistics department if they are forced to do so.
“This will be done in stages, not in one go. So this matter must be studied in detail, so that we can utilise the human resources in a better way based on the current situation,” he said.
He added that he had also ordered Hamza to review all the posts at Lahad Datu, the seashore and the operation zone, so that the posts can be set up at more crowded places.
He also said that the authorities are trying to cut off all the alleys that could possibly be used by the intruders.
Two more corpses of intruders found
Meanwhile, Zulkifeli said that two more corpses, which belongs to the members of the self-styled ‘Sulu royal army’, were found at 7.15am today when the security forces were cleaning up Sungai Nyamuk.
He said that two of them had been shot to death during the gunbattle yesterday morning, in which a soldier was killed.
He noted that one Garand rifle and a small pistol were found.
“We believe that most probably this Garand was used to kill one of the members of the security forces during yesterday’s gunfight,” he added.
The armed intruders had taken over Kampung Tanduo, near Lahad Datu town, on Feb 12. After a three-week stand-off, during which they were urged to leave Sabah, Ops Sulu (later renamed Ops Daulat) was launched to dislodge them.
To date, a total of ten police personnel and soldiers have lost their lives, while 58 armed intruders - including former Moro National Liberation Front commander Haji Musa - have been killed in the operations.
However, the security forces have only retrieved 27 intruders’ bodies to date.
Zulkifeli said that the security forces hope to end Ops Daulat as soon as possible, but also noted that the militant had broken into small groups, on which more intelligence is needed.
When asked on the identity of the a teenager who was shot dead and an adult who suffered injury four days ago, Ismail said that the elder was the father of the deceased.
Zulkifeli however refused to comment over the statement made by retired army deputy chief Lt-Gen (Rtd) Abdul Ghafir Abdul Hamid, that there was a "total and complete failure of intelligence " in detecting the incursion by the self-styled ‘Sulu royal army’ into Lahad Datu, Sabah, because the military's intelligence apparatus has lost its teeth.
“His opinion doesn’t deserve any comment,” he said.
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