No enemy tunnels found by security forces

"So far, we have not received any information about the existence of the tunnel.

"In fact, when the military carried out air raids we did not find any underground tunnel, what we saw were merely cars that were destroyed," he said when contacted through the 'Malaysia Hari Ini' (MHI) programme aired live on TV3.

He was commenting on the report by a local daily that quoted a resident of Kampung Tanduo as saying that the Sulu intruders had carried out detailed planning when entering the village including constructing the tunnel.

The residents claimed that the intruders used excavating machines to dig the hole as though they were looking for gold, but it was a deceptive ploy to build a fortress and tunnel as a hiding place when coming under attack.

Asked if the Sulu intruders were only hiding around Kampung Tanduo and Kampung Tanjung Batu, Hamzah said: "(We) can't assume that they (intruders) are only in the two villages".

Commenting on the incident where a boy died while another man was injured in the foot after being shot by members of the security forces in an operation to hunt down the intruders in Kampung Sungai Bilis yesterday, Hamza said the incident occurred in the operation zone.

He pointed out that whenever the security forces were in an operation area, they always maintained a high level of preparedness and would not give space for the enemy to launch a counter-attack.

"In whatever circumstances, we will react and that is the reason why the security forces always remind the public not to be near an operation area," he added.