Borneo clash: 5 Malaysian policemen killed
Mar 3
Five Malaysian policemen and two gunmen have been killed in a fresh clash on Borneo.
Malaysian police said today that the shootout late on Saturday in the town of Semporna followed a firefight the day before, between Filipino followers of a self-proclaimed sultan and Malaysian security forces that left 12 intruders dead along with two police officers.
The new clash in Semporna, 300 kilometres from the site of the three-week standoff, occurred when police were ambushed by gunmen during a security sweep.
Malaysian media also report that police were pursuing yet another group of armed men in Kunak, another town in the area.
An estimated 100 to 300 Filipinos have been surrounded in a farming village by Malaysian police and military in the state of Sabah since landing by boat from the nearby Philippines on February 12 insisting the area belongs to their Islamic leader.
The leader, Jamalul Kiram III, 74, claims to be the heir to the Islamic sultanate of Sulu, which once controlled parts of the southern Philippines and the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo.
The Sulu sultanate's power faded about a century ago but it has continued to receive nominal payments from Malaysia for Sabah under a historical lease arrangement passed down from European colonial powers.
Kiram's people are demanding Malaysia recognise the sultanate owns Sabah and share profits from economic development in the state.
Mar 3
Five Malaysian policemen and two gunmen have been killed in a fresh clash on Borneo.
Malaysian police said today that the shootout late on Saturday in the town of Semporna followed a firefight the day before, between Filipino followers of a self-proclaimed sultan and Malaysian security forces that left 12 intruders dead along with two police officers.
The new clash in Semporna, 300 kilometres from the site of the three-week standoff, occurred when police were ambushed by gunmen during a security sweep.
Malaysian media also report that police were pursuing yet another group of armed men in Kunak, another town in the area.
An estimated 100 to 300 Filipinos have been surrounded in a farming village by Malaysian police and military in the state of Sabah since landing by boat from the nearby Philippines on February 12 insisting the area belongs to their Islamic leader.
The leader, Jamalul Kiram III, 74, claims to be the heir to the Islamic sultanate of Sulu, which once controlled parts of the southern Philippines and the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo.
The Sulu sultanate's power faded about a century ago but it has continued to receive nominal payments from Malaysia for Sabah under a historical lease arrangement passed down from European colonial powers.
Kiram's people are demanding Malaysia recognise the sultanate owns Sabah and share profits from economic development in the state.
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