Malaysian Air Force's F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets. |
MANILA — Malaysia used airstrikes and mobilized
thousands of troops on Tuesday to try to put an end to a monthlong quixotic
incursion by a band of gunmen from the Philippines seeking to reclaim part of Borneo Island
for a defunct sultanate.
Three F-18 fighter jets and five Hawk ground-attack
aircraft bombed and strafed the estimated 200 Filipino gunmen holed up near the
small northeastern Malaysian village of Kampung Taduo, Defense Minister Ahmad
Zahid of Malaysia said on Tuesday.
The airstrikes were followed by a ground assault that
killed an undetermined number of the Filipino gunmen but caused no Malaysian
casualties, the defense minister said.
“The armed forces’ operation to defend the nation’s
sovereignty has been fruitful,” he told reporters, without providing details on
whether all of the gunmen had been captured or killed.
Malaysians protesting against Filipino incursion. |
The assault came after weeks of pleas by the Philippine and
Malaysian governments for the gunmen to return to the southern Philippines.
Malaysian forces tried repeatedly to dislodge the gunmen by force with at least
27 killed in fighting before Tuesday’s major offensive. The current death toll
is unclear.
The Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak,
has said repeatedly in recent days that his government’s patience was wearing
thin.
“We will not allow an inch of our land to be threatened by
anyone,” the prime minister said in a statement shortly after the attack on
Tuesday.
Malaysian army shelling rebels with heavy mortars. |
In Manila, a spokesman for the group, Abraham Idjirani,
told reporters that the Malaysian military assault had missed the
organization’s leader on the ground. He said Filipino fighters were still
operating in the area.
The group’s leader in Manila, Jamalul Kiram III, one of
several claimants to the title of sultan of Sulu, remained defiant. He said at
a news conference on Tuesday that the Filipino fighters in Borneo, including
his son, whom he identified as the prince of Sulu, would continue the fight.
Malaysian army's 50 cal team firing at rebels. |
In the last few days, Philippine officials have frantically
shuttled between Kuala Lumpur and Manila seeking to smooth relations with their
Southeast Asian neighbor and protect the more than 800,000 Filipinos living and
working in Sabah State. Early Tuesday morning, the Philippine secretary of
foreign affairs, Albert F. del Rosario, met with officials in Kuala Lumpur in
an effort to reduce tensions.
Philippine officials have asked the Malaysian government to
show restraint in dealing with the Filipinos involved in the incursion, but a
presidential spokesman in Manila said on Tuesday that the military operation
was beyond the control of the Philippine government.
“We are in no position to speculate on the actions of the
Malaysian government,” said the spokesman, Edwin Lacierda. “What is clear,
however, is that Malaysian blood has been spilled. If this happened to us, we
would also have taken some action.”
Surrendered Filipino-Muslim rebels. |
Nur Misuari, the leader of the Moro National Liberation
Front, an Islamic militant group in the southern Philippines, said at a news
conference on Tuesday that his group has not supported the incursion but he
warned the Malaysian authorities not to harm Filipino civilians in Sabah.
“Do not touch our civilians,” he said. “Once you do that,
that will be tantamount to declaration of war against our people and the Moro
National Liberation Front.”
(When our Burma Army used one old MI-35 Soviet-Era helicopter gunship against tens of thousands of heavily-armed KIA Kachin rebels the whole world including Ban Ki-Moon's United Nations protested like their lives depended on the survival of their beloved terrorist, KIA. Now Malaysian military is using three latest US-supplied F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets against mere 200 lightly-armed Filipino rebels rightfully re-claiming their hereditary-land, and what are those western democracies and the UN doing? Nothing. Complete utter silence!)
(When our Burma Army used one old MI-35 Soviet-Era helicopter gunship against tens of thousands of heavily-armed KIA Kachin rebels the whole world including Ban Ki-Moon's United Nations protested like their lives depended on the survival of their beloved terrorist, KIA. Now Malaysian military is using three latest US-supplied F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets against mere 200 lightly-armed Filipino rebels rightfully re-claiming their hereditary-land, and what are those western democracies and the UN doing? Nothing. Complete utter silence!)