Liberal Party (LP) mayoralty candidate Rommel Matba and his 31 companions were back in Tawi-Tawi on Thursday night, two days after they were detained by Malaysian authorities because their motorboat drifted to Lahad Datu in Sabah, officials said on Friday.
The Sultanate of Sulu on Monday confirmed Malaysian authorities had arrested a nephew of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III but denied the detained Filipino was involved in the incursion into Sabah last month.
After more than a month of military operations against forces of the sultan of Sulu, Malaysian authorities have declared the crisis in eastern Sabah “under control,” Malacañang reported on Sunday.
Malaysian authorities are flip-flopping on the whereabouts of the elusive Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, leader of a group of armed members of the so-called “royal army” of the Sultanate of Sulu who occupied a coastal village in Lahad Datu last month were subsequently dislodged by Malaysian security forces backed by aerial and artillery bombardment.
Malaysian activists held rallies in front of the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday and Friday but the diplomatic mission’s operations remained normal because the demonstrations were peaceful, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
“They dragged all the men outside the houses, kicked and hit them,” 32-year-old Amira Taradji said on Friday as she recounted her family’s ordeal in Sandakan, which started when Malaysian security forces launched a crackdown on suspected supporters of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III in Sabah.
The United Kingdom and Australia have warned their citizens against travel to parts of Mindanao citing threats of terrorist activity, crime and violence in certain provinces in the region.
The fate of Sulu armed group leader Azzimudie Kiram remains unknown as Malaysian elite military and police teams enter into the final stage of search and mopping up operations at Kampung Tanduo and Kampung Tanjung Batu near here Friday.
Malaysian aircraft took to the skies anew over Lahad Datu starting 8 a.m. Thursday as ground forces advanced farther inside the Tanduo area in search of the members of the so-called “royal army” of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III of Sulu.
Malaysian Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Wednesday confirmed the recovery of the bodies of 13 “terrorists” following Tuesday’s air strikes and artillery against armed followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III holed up in an encampment in Lahad Datu in Sabah.
Malaysian and Philippine ships are closely monitoring the waters between Sabah and Sulu amid reports that thousands of Tausugs are sailing to the village of Lahad Datu to reinforce the Sulu “royal army.”
Malaysian authorities have barred the humanitarian team sent by the Philippine government from entering Lahad Datu, stopping the group at Kota Kinabalu, a member of the team told the INQUIRER on Saturday.
