Malaysian security forces battled on Friday morning with about 180 Filipinos, some of whom were armed, in an effort to remove them from a remote coastal village they had occupied for two weeks in the northeastern Malaysian state of Sabah.
The Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported that 10 to 12 Filipinos died in the clash and two Malaysian police commandos were killed in a mortar attack.
The Philippines and Malaysia for weeks had tried to persuade the group to leave peacefully. The Malaysian authorities, who had surrounded the Filipinos, had given repeated deadlines for the group to leave peacefully. The deadlines passed without incident until Friday, when the violence erupted.
“Our patience has reached the limit,” Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia was quoted as saying on Friday by Bernama.
The battle on Friday apparently ended the standoff, Malaysian diplomatic officials told their Philippine counterparts. But the fate of the Filipinos in the area was unclear. Raul Hernandez, a Philippine foreign affairs spokesman, suggested that some had fled the fighting and some had been arrested, but he did not provide further details during a news briefing on Friday.
There were different accounts of how the violence started.
Ricky Carandang, a Philippine presidential spokesman, said it appeared to have begun when the Filipinos tried to breach the perimeter established by Malaysian police. “They apparently tried to leave the area and were stopped,” Mr. Carandang said by telephone.”
The Malaysian home minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, said on his Twitter account .. https://twitter.com/HishammuddinH2O .. that “the situation is fully under control [see below].”
“I confirm that our security forces have not taken a single shot, but were shot at at 10 a.m. this morning,” he wrote on Friday, adding that the group at that point was still surrounded by the Malaysian police.
But the Filipinos said they did not start the confrontation. Abraham Idjirani, a spokesman in Manila for the armed group, said Friday that at about 6 a.m. Friday the Malaysian police began approaching the perimeter and shots were fired. The police then retreated, he said.
He said that 10 Filipinos had been killed and that four were injured in the assault. “The first shot came from the Malaysian authorities,” the spokesman said.
A version of this article appeared in print on March 2, 2013, on page A3 of the New York edition with the headline: Malaysian Incursion by Filipinos Ends in a Deadly Clash.
Malaysia Planes Bomb Armed Insurgents to End Deadly Standoff
By Daniel Ten Kate & Barry Porter - Mar 5, 2013 1:45 PM ET .. with links ..
Malaysian troops began a ground and aerial assault on armed insurgents in the eastern state of Sabah today to end a standoff with a Muslim clan from the Philippines .. http://topics.bloomberg.com/philippines/ .. that invaded last month to assert a territorial claim.
At least 31 people have died over the past week in clashes between Malaysian police and several hundred followers of Jamalul Kiram, a Filipino who asserts he’s the sultan of Sulu. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said attempts to resolve the conflict peacefully had failed.
Malaysian soldiers ride in an armored personnel carrier drive towards the area where the stand-off with Sulu gunmen is ongoing in Tanduo village on March 4, 2013. Photographer: Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images
“As the intrusion prolonged, it was clear that the intruders had no intention to leave Sabah,” Najib said in an e- mailed statement today. “The government must take action to defend the country’s dignity and sovereignty.”
The battle unfolding in Borneo may disrupt palm oil production in a state that accounted for 30 percent of the country’s output last year. It also comes weeks ahead of a late- April deadline by when Najib must dissolve parliament for elections.
“Malaysians will want to know how on earth this large a number of people got into Malaysian soil and gained a foothold,” said Joseph Chinyong Liow, associate dean of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore .. http://topics.bloomberg.com/singapore/ . “The followers of the Sulu sultan are prepared to fight to the end. That sets the whole thing up for a pretty gruesome outcome.”
Fighter Jets
Kiram’s followers exchanged gunfire today with Malaysian forces and saw fighter jets drop bombs, Agbimuddin Kiram, the self-proclaimed crown prince of Sulu, said in an interview with DZMM radio from Sabah. The group invaded Lahad Datu on Feb. 12.
“They stopped listening, both the Philippine and Malaysian governments,” he said. “We can’t confirm casualties yet. Only God knows. God will help us.”
[ Sorry to suggest, God's involvement may not be positive. ] useful. ]
Eight Malaysian police officers and 23 Kiram loyalists have been killed in shootouts since March 1. Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario was updated on the situation after arriving in Malaysia .. http://topics.bloomberg.com/malaysia/ .. late yesterday, Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad, Najib’s spokesman, said by phone.
Malaysia began aerial attacks this morning to “soften the ground” before seven battalions moved into the area, Tengku said. Police and soldiers began moving into areas around Lahad Datu today, said Nik Khusairi, a spokesman for the Home Ministry.
The Sulu sultanate says it leased Sabah to the British North Borneo Company in 1878, an agreement that Malaysia views as a secession of the region. Sabah fell under British control after World War II and joined Malaysia in 1963.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino yesterday called on Kiram’s group to surrender to avoid more bloodshed. He accused allies of former Philippine President Gloria Arroyo .. http://topics.bloomberg.com/gloria-arroyo/ .. of involvement in the incident, saying that “certain members of the past administration” assisted Jamalul Kiram, who ran for a Senate seat in 2007 elections under Arroyo’s party.
“There are those who conspired to bring us to this situation -- a situation that has no immediate solutions,” Aquino said. “Some of their identities are clear to us, while others continue to skulk in the shadows. The family of Sultan Jamalul Kiram could not possibly have settled on this course of action alone.”
Elena Horn, a spokeswoman for former president Arroyo, didn’t return a phone call and a mobile phone message seeking comment.
The Philippines and Malaysia had been cooperating to resolve the standoff peacefully, Aquino said last week. Najib helped Aquino reach a peace deal with Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines last year. Najib must dissolve parliament by April 28 and hold elections within 60 days.
To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net; Barry Porter in Kuala Lumpur at bporter10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net
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