Anxious moments for family of commando injured in gun battle

For a few hours yesterday, the family of Cpl Azman Ampong was in the grip of anxiety over the safety of the police commando.

The family only settled down after Azman himself contacted them to say that he was only injured in a gun battle near Lahad Datu earlier in the day between police commandos and armed intruders claiming to be the royal army of the Sultanate of Sulu in the Philippines.

Azman's mother-in-law Nurni Rais, 60, said she was shocked to learn from the news over television and from a Facebook account that Azman was killed in the shootout with the intruders who had holed up in Kampung Tanduo, 130km from Lahad Datu, since Feb 9.

Just before the Friday prayers, the family had received word from Azman's wife that her husband was injured in the incident.

"We became very anxious after hearing the news on television," she told reporters at her home in Kampung Tinosa 2, here.

Azman, who is from Semporna, Sabah, was one of three police commandos injured in the gun battle which took the lives of two police commandos and 12 of the intruders. He was wounded in the back, buttocks and thighs.

Azman is married to Marina Djapar, 34, and they have four children.