Did the police walk into a trap in Semporna?
A spokesman for Sultan Sulu said that its forces on Sabah had taken hostage a Malaysian police officer, two soldiers and a government official.
Michael Kaung and Azman Habu, Hornbill Unleashed
Police searching for a group of gunmen in Kampung Sri Jaya in the Simunul area in Semporna may have walked into a trap that was set for them.
According to sources, the gunmen appeared ready for the police raid and opened fire as the police were on the narrow single-plank walkways linking the various houses on stilts.
Six policemen, including an officer, and six unidentified gunmen were killed during the firefight that occurred around 7pm yesterday.
Police have encircled the village, one of many that are perched on stilts over the sea, to track down remaining gunmen.
Inspector General of Police Ismail Omar confirmed that his men may have been lured in by decoys and fired upon as they entered the water village.
He said that police had moved in based on a tip off that there were armed men in the vicinity.
“Based on this information, a police team from the Semporna district police headquarters entered the place but were ambushed when they arrived,” he told a press conference in Felda Sabahat Residence, Lahad Datu today.
The Semporna shooting comes just after the killing of two policemen on Friday in Lahad Datu, where a shootout with armed intruders loyal to the Sulu Sultanate took place.
Ismail said police were unsure if the two incidents are linked.
He also said the police had arrested three men, one armed with a knife, who were trying to slip through a security cordon around Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu late Saturday. They are being interrogated.
The death toll has now climbed to 26 in two days with eight policemen killed in the line of duty both in Lahad Datu and Semporna. Friday also saw 12 gunmen loyal to the 74-year-old Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III killed. This group had ‘invaded’ Lahad Datu on Feb 12 to stake a claim on Sabah.
A source said that police are also “keen to get in touch with Mohd Akjan Ali Muhammad, the businessman who proclaimed himself as the ‘Sultan of Sulu’ in 2011. Akjan is also a former Umno member who has the loyalty of a large number of Filipinos in the state.
Akjan, according to sources, however cannot be located.
There are also unconfirmed reports that the General Operations Force (GOF) centre in Kinarut near here, a complex that was contracted to Akjan, is on heightened alert as is much of the police stations throughout Sabah.
There is a large Filipino refugee settlement in Kinarut, a small town located about 20 kilometres south of Kota Kinabalu.
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