Source
Reinforcements from the Tausug tribe of Sulu numbering up to 10,000 have sailed to Sabah to aid their clansmen who are the followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, an official of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was quoted as saying by a major Manila-based broadsheet.
Majority of the MNLF members, including their chairman Nur Misuari, are members of the Tausug tribe.
“It is impossible to stop them from going to Sabah. We are hurt and many of our people are going to Sabah to help the sultanate,” the paper quoted MNLF Islamic council committee chairman Habib Hashim Mudjahab as saying.
The Tausugs, also known as Suluks, have sailed to help the followers of the Sulu Sultanate who have reportedly gone into hiding following the heavy assault by Malaysian forces yesterday.
Mudjahab said at least 10,000 Tausugs from Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga had left the country Monday night in small batches, intering Sabah trough what they call the “the southern backdoor.”
Habib dismissed the naval blockade set up by the Philippine Navy as ineffective since the Tausugs know the route well and would have an easy time slipping into Sabah without raising any suspicion.
Malaysian air and ground forces launched an assault on defiant Filipino intrudersas the government moved to end a three-week incursion that had already killed 27 people.
Prime Minister Najib Razak said the government had no choice but to quell Malaysia’s worst security crisis in years, sparked when militants invaded to claim the Malaysian state of Sabah for the Sulu sultanate.
State news agency Bernama said F-18 and Hawk fighter jets bombed the standoff Bornean village of Tanduo, followed by “a ground assault by the army”.
“The longer this invasion lasts, it is clear to the authorities that the invaders do not intend to leave Sabah,” Najib said, adding that negotiations with the estimated 100-300 intruders had gone nowhere.
“The government must take action to safeguard the dignity and sovereignty of the country as required by the people.”
The intruders have been holed up in a farming village since landing by boat February 12 in a bizarre incursion that has exposed lax Malaysian security and the continuing threat from Islamists in the lawless southern Philippines.
At least two fighter jets were seen roaring overhead early Tuesday, followed by the thud of loud explosions, a Malaysian reporter positioned about 20 kilometres (12 miles) away told AFP by phone.
“There was a series of explosions in Tanduo. Intense bombing lasted for about half an hour,” followed by a series of sporadic blasts, he said.
A police statement said security forces were fired upon during the assault but had no immediate confirmation of any casualties.
President Aquino’s spokesman Ricky Carandang said the followers of 74-year-old Manila-based Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III had only themselves to blame for the assault.
“We’ve done everything we could to prevent this, but in the end, Kiram’s people chose this path,” Carandang said.
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, left six police and six gunmen dead, raising fears of a wider guerrilla infiltration from the Philippines. Another gunman was reportedly beaten to death by Semporna residents.
However, the drama may not be over even if the Tanduo holdouts are defeated.
Authorities said at the weekend that police commandos were hunting for a group of “foreign” armed gunmen spotted in the town of Kunak on the coast. There have been no further police updates on that situation.
An AFP reporter at a police roadblock 30 kilometers from Tanduo saw military transport helicopters flying toward the village amid the assault.
Three military trucks carrying dozens of soldiers and several ambulances also sped in the direction of Tanduo, located amid vast oil palm plantations.
Followers of Kiram, the self-proclaimed heir to the sultanate of Sulu, have said the intruders were ready to die to defend his historical claim to Sabah, and have warned more militants were poised to land in the state.
The Sulu sultanate, based in southern Philippines, once controlled parts of Borneo island including Sabah.
Its power faded about a century ago but its heirs have continued to insist on ultimate ownership of resource-rich Sabah, and still receive nominal Malaysian payments under a leasing deal originally struck by Western colonial powers.
The exact identities of the gunmen and their numbers have remained a mystery. Malaysia’s opposition has criticized authorities for providing inadequate information on the mayhem and being caught flat-footed by the invaders.
Sabah has seen small raids by Islamic militants and criminals coming by boat from the Philippines before, but nothing on the current scale.
Another Aquino spokesman, Edwin Lacierda challenged former Sen. Richard Gordon to prove assertions on the baseline law of the Philippines tha supposedly established the Philippines claim on Sabah while the Aquino administration remains firm on rejecting any form of negotiations with the Kirams while the militants remain in the Malaysian territory.
Lacierda said the Kiram clan members should dissuade themselves from any other form of negotiations from the Aquino administration.
“The message of the President will not change. The message to you is go home. It is not the forces of the Philippines that are doing the bombardment. They were given of an ultimatum by the Malaysian authorities: surrender or face the consequences. The government has never been neglectful to provide them protection,” Lacierda said.
Lacierda said the government does not see any light as long as defiance of the Kiram clan remains.
“The fate of the 180 people in Lahad Datu lies with those who continue to make a defiant stand. Our position has not changed since Saturday morning, and so it is with the Raja Muda Kiram and those followers in Lahad Datu,” Lacierda said.
Lacierda reiterated that the manner chosen by the Kiram to assert their objectives was wrong and still unacceptable to the Aquino administration.
“I think everyone knows that we have done everything possible, and we continue to do everything possible to peacefully end this standoff. Unfortunately, the position taken by the Kiram family is a position that leads down to violence. So it really defies logic,” Lacierda said.
Lacierda said “the government is concerned for the 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah, and also for those men and women and children that the men who joined Lahad Datu and those who left behind here in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.”
Lacierda said the decision of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to open fire on the Filipino Muslims was beyond the control of Manila.
“First, I am not the spokeman of Prime Minister Najib so I cannot speculate on that point. We are in no position to speculate on the actuations of the Malaysian government. What is clear, however, was that Malaysian blood has been spilled. If that happens to us, we would also have taken some action,” Lacierda said.
Lacierda said the administration is taking up steps to establish a case against those individuals being suspected by Malacanang to have participated in the Sabah conflict.
Former National Security adviser Norberto Gonzales reacted on the statement of Aquino on the intention to run after the conspirators.
“Is he guilty? The President never mentioned anybody. He said that ‘I will not name names until I have sufficient evidence,” Lacierda said.
Lacierda pointed out that in due time, the President’s men would identify the names of the personalities whom to be charged.
The administration, Lacierda said, has been considering in their the writings of the academic scholars on the Philippine claim of Sabah.
“The writings of the scholars have been taken into consideration. I can assure you that the research taken has considered academic writings as well,” Lacierda said.
Paul Sison, AFP
Reinforcements from the Tausug tribe of Sulu numbering up to 10,000 have sailed to Sabah to aid their clansmen who are the followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, an official of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was quoted as saying by a major Manila-based broadsheet.
Majority of the MNLF members, including their chairman Nur Misuari, are members of the Tausug tribe.
“It is impossible to stop them from going to Sabah. We are hurt and many of our people are going to Sabah to help the sultanate,” the paper quoted MNLF Islamic council committee chairman Habib Hashim Mudjahab as saying.
The Tausugs, also known as Suluks, have sailed to help the followers of the Sulu Sultanate who have reportedly gone into hiding following the heavy assault by Malaysian forces yesterday.
Mudjahab said at least 10,000 Tausugs from Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga had left the country Monday night in small batches, intering Sabah trough what they call the “the southern backdoor.”
Habib dismissed the naval blockade set up by the Philippine Navy as ineffective since the Tausugs know the route well and would have an easy time slipping into Sabah without raising any suspicion.
Malaysian air and ground forces launched an assault on defiant Filipino intrudersas the government moved to end a three-week incursion that had already killed 27 people.
Prime Minister Najib Razak said the government had no choice but to quell Malaysia’s worst security crisis in years, sparked when militants invaded to claim the Malaysian state of Sabah for the Sulu sultanate.
State news agency Bernama said F-18 and Hawk fighter jets bombed the standoff Bornean village of Tanduo, followed by “a ground assault by the army”.
“The longer this invasion lasts, it is clear to the authorities that the invaders do not intend to leave Sabah,” Najib said, adding that negotiations with the estimated 100-300 intruders had gone nowhere.
“The government must take action to safeguard the dignity and sovereignty of the country as required by the people.”
The intruders have been holed up in a farming village since landing by boat February 12 in a bizarre incursion that has exposed lax Malaysian security and the continuing threat from Islamists in the lawless southern Philippines.
At least two fighter jets were seen roaring overhead early Tuesday, followed by the thud of loud explosions, a Malaysian reporter positioned about 20 kilometres (12 miles) away told AFP by phone.
“There was a series of explosions in Tanduo. Intense bombing lasted for about half an hour,” followed by a series of sporadic blasts, he said.
A police statement said security forces were fired upon during the assault but had no immediate confirmation of any casualties.
President Aquino’s spokesman Ricky Carandang said the followers of 74-year-old Manila-based Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III had only themselves to blame for the assault.
“We’ve done everything we could to prevent this, but in the end, Kiram’s people chose this path,” Carandang said.
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, left six police and six gunmen dead, raising fears of a wider guerrilla infiltration from the Philippines. Another gunman was reportedly beaten to death by Semporna residents.
However, the drama may not be over even if the Tanduo holdouts are defeated.
Authorities said at the weekend that police commandos were hunting for a group of “foreign” armed gunmen spotted in the town of Kunak on the coast. There have been no further police updates on that situation.
An AFP reporter at a police roadblock 30 kilometers from Tanduo saw military transport helicopters flying toward the village amid the assault.
Three military trucks carrying dozens of soldiers and several ambulances also sped in the direction of Tanduo, located amid vast oil palm plantations.
Followers of Kiram, the self-proclaimed heir to the sultanate of Sulu, have said the intruders were ready to die to defend his historical claim to Sabah, and have warned more militants were poised to land in the state.
The Sulu sultanate, based in southern Philippines, once controlled parts of Borneo island including Sabah.
Its power faded about a century ago but its heirs have continued to insist on ultimate ownership of resource-rich Sabah, and still receive nominal Malaysian payments under a leasing deal originally struck by Western colonial powers.
The exact identities of the gunmen and their numbers have remained a mystery. Malaysia’s opposition has criticized authorities for providing inadequate information on the mayhem and being caught flat-footed by the invaders.
Sabah has seen small raids by Islamic militants and criminals coming by boat from the Philippines before, but nothing on the current scale.
Another Aquino spokesman, Edwin Lacierda challenged former Sen. Richard Gordon to prove assertions on the baseline law of the Philippines tha supposedly established the Philippines claim on Sabah while the Aquino administration remains firm on rejecting any form of negotiations with the Kirams while the militants remain in the Malaysian territory.
Lacierda said the Kiram clan members should dissuade themselves from any other form of negotiations from the Aquino administration.
“The message of the President will not change. The message to you is go home. It is not the forces of the Philippines that are doing the bombardment. They were given of an ultimatum by the Malaysian authorities: surrender or face the consequences. The government has never been neglectful to provide them protection,” Lacierda said.
Lacierda said the government does not see any light as long as defiance of the Kiram clan remains.
“The fate of the 180 people in Lahad Datu lies with those who continue to make a defiant stand. Our position has not changed since Saturday morning, and so it is with the Raja Muda Kiram and those followers in Lahad Datu,” Lacierda said.
Lacierda reiterated that the manner chosen by the Kiram to assert their objectives was wrong and still unacceptable to the Aquino administration.
“I think everyone knows that we have done everything possible, and we continue to do everything possible to peacefully end this standoff. Unfortunately, the position taken by the Kiram family is a position that leads down to violence. So it really defies logic,” Lacierda said.
Lacierda said “the government is concerned for the 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah, and also for those men and women and children that the men who joined Lahad Datu and those who left behind here in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.”
Lacierda said the decision of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to open fire on the Filipino Muslims was beyond the control of Manila.
“First, I am not the spokeman of Prime Minister Najib so I cannot speculate on that point. We are in no position to speculate on the actuations of the Malaysian government. What is clear, however, was that Malaysian blood has been spilled. If that happens to us, we would also have taken some action,” Lacierda said.
Lacierda said the administration is taking up steps to establish a case against those individuals being suspected by Malacanang to have participated in the Sabah conflict.
Former National Security adviser Norberto Gonzales reacted on the statement of Aquino on the intention to run after the conspirators.
“Is he guilty? The President never mentioned anybody. He said that ‘I will not name names until I have sufficient evidence,” Lacierda said.
Lacierda pointed out that in due time, the President’s men would identify the names of the personalities whom to be charged.
The administration, Lacierda said, has been considering in their the writings of the academic scholars on the Philippine claim of Sabah.
“The writings of the scholars have been taken into consideration. I can assure you that the research taken has considered academic writings as well,” Lacierda said.
Paul Sison, AFP
DO YOU KNOW THAT SABAH OIL MONEY WAS USED BY UMNO TO TRAIN & EQUIP THE MOROS FOR OVER 40 YEARS?
ReplyDeleteNow these Malaysian trained guerilla fighters are being used to invade Sabah.
Thank you so much UMNO!
There is no future to "remain as Malaysians" if UMNO can so easily betray its promises to defend Sabah! This was a Malaysia formation promise made to entice the Borneo people to agree to "join Malaysia"!
So for those of you still wanting to "remain Malaysians"- suggest you migrate to Malaya!
Don't sign the UMNO petition to keep Sabah in the hell-hole of Malaysia!
The best way is out of Malaysia to regain Sabah independence and be free like Brunei and Singapore.
Malaya cannot even stop a few hundred invaders from the Philippines. Sabahans can do better than that!