TWO ABU Sayyaf terrorists were killed and more had been captured in separate operations in Sabah, according to the Malaysian daily, The Star.
It said the slain terrorists were killed in firefight with police forces at Bornhill Palm Oil Estate in Timbang, an island in the Sulu Sea southwest of Sungai Saleng off Sandakan City. The fighting occurred early in the morning on August 20 after police raided the area.
This was also confirmed by Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali, who said that prior to the raid, security forces arrested seven Abu Sayyaf fighters during a special operation at dawn on August 18.
“The earlier operation saw security forces arrest 25 suspected undocumented migrants, comprising 11 Filipinos and 14 Indonesians,” he said, adding seven of the Filipinos turned out to be members of the Abu Sayyaf.
Hazani said several terrorists managed to escape the August 18 operation and were eventually tracked down on Timbang Island. He said the two Abu Sayyaf terrorists opened fire on security forces during the operation, sparking a three-minute gun battle that killed the duo. “None of our men was injured,” he said, adding the Abu Sayyaf terrorists were in the area to plan for the abduction of two estate owners in Sandakan and Sukau areas.
Hazani said the terrorists were believed to be seeking ransom to fund its violent campaign in the southern Philippines.
Last May, security forces also killed five Abu Sayyaf terrorists and captured eight others after a firefight at a mangrove area near Taman Sri Arjuna in Beaufort district, about 9o km from Kota Kinabalu.
It was unknown how the Abu Sayyaf terrorists managed to sneak into Sabah despite its tight security and military patrols at the border off the southern Philippine province of Tawi-Tawi. But the Abu Sayyaf is notorious for its cross-border raids and has kidnapped dozens of foreigners in Sabah the past two decades. (Mindanao Examiner)
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