Sulu invasion: Probe papers almost done

Police found several important documents believed to belong to Sulu terrorists during an inspection at Kampung Simunul.

SEMPORNA: The investigation papers on the 27 people suspected to be terrorists and collaborators in the ambush incident in Kampung Simunul on Feb 2 are in the final stages of completion.

All the suspects, aged between 18 and 73, were detained since the incident at the water settlement broke out which resulted in the death of six police personnel and six enemies were shot dead.

“We are finalising the investigation papers on them,” Semporna District Police Chief, DSP Mohd Firdaus Francis Abdullah told reporters here.

The media previously reported that 69 suspected terrorists and collaborators were detained in Semporna on suspicion of being involved in the attack at Kampung Simunul.

Mohd Firdaus also said police had found several important documents believed to belong to the terrorists during an inspection at Kampung Simunul, on Friday.

“In the documents, we found several important information that may help us in tracking the remnants of the terrorists who are still in the Semporna district,” he said.

Bernama also reported that in LAHAD DATU, security forces had picked up an unarmed Sulu terrorist in the Ops Daulat offensive zone at the Felda Sahabat plantation at 6.30am yesterday. Less than 50 terrorists are believd to be still there.

Sabah Police Commissioner Hamza Taib said the detained terrorist, who had no identification papers on him, was taken to the police station for questioning.

He said the terrorist was held under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, but he did not reveal the exact location where he was picked up.

So far 104 individuals had been arrested under the act while 232 people were being held under different laws, he told the news conference, which was also attended by Army First Division commander Maj Gen Ahmad Zaki Mokhtar, here.

Hamza said 61 terrorists had been killed since March 1 when the terrorists killed two policemen.  Six more policemen and two soldiers have also been killed in clashes with the terrorists.

NS trainees in Sabah
On a related matter, the National Service Training Department (JLKN) has sought the assistance of the security forces to ensure safe passage for the 900 trainees who have completed training at two camps located in the Ops Daulat offensive zone in eastern Sabah.

Its director-general, Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil, said the camps were the San Shui in Tawau and the Bagai Budi in Sandakan.

The trainees are among the 34,000 from the first batch of the 10th series of the National Service Training Programme who had undergone training at the 81 camps in the country over the past three months.

Abdul Hadi said the trainees at these two Sabah camps had been briefed on the intrusion by the Sulu terrorists in Lahad Datu and they would be able to disseminate the information to the people once they returned to their hometowns.

“We had instructed the commandants of the camps to brief the trainees so that they are clear about the intrusion and will not confuse the people,” he told Bernama in PASIR MAS here.