A handout photo shows Malaysian soldiers moving into Kampung Tanduo, where troops stormed the camp of an armed Filipino group, in Lahad Datu, Sabah, March 9, 2013. — Reuters pic
LAHAD DATU, March 11 — One week after ‘Ops Daulat’, the police today announced that Kampung Tanduo, the landing site of militant intruders, a month ago, was free of the terrorists from southern Philippines.
Security forces are now focusing on eradicating the remnants of militant intruders in the Kampung Tanjung Batu and Sungai Bilis areas.
Yesterday, a terrorist was shot dead in Kampung Tanjung Batu, making the total number of militant intruders killed, to date, at 54.
Ninety-seven people were detained for suspected involvement with militant terrorists, said Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib.
He said security forces also held 122 people for being in the prohibited zone of ‘Ops Daulat’.
On March 8, security forces launched an offensive against the terrorist group, followed by a search to hunt them down.
Speaking at a press conference with Army Infantry Division Commander Maj-Gen Datuk Ahmad Zaki Mokhtar here, Hamza said, the bodies of 22 terrorists were sent to the hospital for post-mortem.
He also allowed journalists to take pictures of the bodies to pre-empt allegations of certain groups questioning the number of terrorists killed.
On a report in an English daily today, that Azzimuddie Kiram, who headed the intrusion, had escaped the security forces dragnet in Semporna, Hamza rubbished the claim.
“If I knew he was in Semporna, I would have long captured him,” he said, also denying reports that security forces subjected the Sulu community to brutality.
To date, no police report had been made against security forces that its members had used violence, he added.
Hamza said, in an incident yesterday, a teenager was killed and a man, injured, near a house targeted by the security forces. — Bernama
