4 dead, 2 hurt in fresh Sabah clash

MANILA, Philippines – Four people, including two children, were killed and two were hurt as Malaysian authorities and suspected members of the Sulu royal army clashed in Lahad Datu, Sabah on Sunday, March 24.

Malaysian newspaper The Star said 4 bodies were recovered in a house in Tanjung Batu where the firefight with suspected followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III happened.

The fatalities included a man, a woman, a boy and a girl. Their bodies were sent to the morgue, and their nationalities have yet to be determined.

The injured — a boy and a soldier — were taken to hospital for treatment, the paper quoted Armed Forces Chief Tan Sri Zulkifeli Zin as saying.

Malaysian security forces earlier claimed that over 60 people have died in their encounters with members of the royal army. 

They also recently arrested Kiram’s commander, Datu Amir Bahar Hushin Kiram, and his wife, in a swampy area in Kampung Sri Melor Bugaya, Semporna.

Clashes between the groups erupted early March after Kiram refused to withdraw his followers from Lahad Datu. Kiram later offered ceasefire, but this was rejected by the Malaysian governnment, which demanded his complete surrender. 

Kiram sent the royal army to Sabah after they were excluded in the Malaysian-brokered peace talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine government. – Rappler.com