OPS DAULAT BRIEFING: Zulkifeli (left) and Khalid speaking to reporters during the press conference in Tungku, Lahad Datu. — Bernama photo
LAHAD DATU: The security forces yesterday confirmed that the Sulu military commander caught in Semporna yesterday is Datu Amir Bahar Hushin Kiram.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said Amir Bahar, who is in his late 40s, had been the commander issuing orders to the terrorists since their intrusion into Lahad Datu on Feb 12.
“He is being detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012,” he told a news conference, also attended by chief of Defence Forces Gen Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin at the Felda Sahabat 16 operations command near here. The security forces had caught Amir Bahar and his wife in a swampy area at about 1.30am on Saturday.
Khalid also said that the security authorities and the village headman and heads of households had decided that the villagers of Kampung Tanduo, where the intrusion and gun battles took place, would be allowed to return to their homes on Tuesday.
The villagers would be accompanied by officers from the Lahad Datu District Office and security forces’ personnel.
Providing the latest statistics of the “Ops Daulat” government offensive against the terrorists, Khalid said that so far 416 individuals had been arrested, of whom 110 were being held under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012.
Zulkifeli, meanwhile, said Kampung Tanduo was free of the threat of the terrorists and the number of security forces’ personnel there had been scaled down. He said the Ops Daulat offensive was ongoing.
“The focus of the operation now is on the mopping-up exercise in Kampung Tanjung Batu. It is hoped that this can be completed soon,” he said. — Bernama