New guerrilla base in Sabah, claims Kiram

Sulu intruders have set up a new guerrilla base has been set up in the “hinterlands of Sabah”, according to a spokesperson for ‘sultan’ Jamalul Kiram III.

Abraham Idjirani, according to a news report in Philippines Star, said that the Malaysian military and police knew about the base but could not pinpoint the exact location because the jungle in the area is vast.

Idjirani also claimed that the new stronghold is in a strategic location with enough sources of food and water, and with adequate shelter for nearly 500 men.

He also said that the existence of this base was told to him by Agbimuddin Kiram, the brother of Jamalul and the so-called “sultanate-appointed administrator of Sabah”.

However, Idjirani said that the fighters would continue to adopt defensive position and would not initiate any attack on the Malaysian security forces.

The report also quoted an unnammed Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) source which said that the base was a former MNLF camp storing a cache of high-powered weapons from the Mindanao uprising in the early ‘70s.

The source said the base was established by MNLF fighters who joined the group in Lahad Datu to press their proprietary claim over Sabah.

It is also claimed that aside from the 400 new arrivals from Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, Tausugs based in Lahad Datu and Semporna have also joined the ‘army’ at the base.

This new development comes a day after the Armed Forces Chief general Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin gave the assurance that Sabah was now free from any threats from militants from Southern Philippines.

"I would like everyone to know that Sabah and Sabah's east coast are safe and we've eradicated any threat,” he said.

Ops Daulat, which Zulkifeli said will end in a few days, will be transitioned into the stabilising stage with the 500km area of the East Sabah Security Zone (ESSZONE).

Previously, there has been several claims that there were reinforcements slipping into Sabah.

MNLF had claimed that another 1,000 of its fighters had slipped past the marine security net into Sabah in small groups. This was, however, disputed by Malaysian authorities.