Military trucks transporting the returning troops of over 300 soldiers involved in ‘Ops Pasir Selatan’ on the east coast of Sabah.
A marching band leads the procession to salute the 20th Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment (20th RMR) after patrolling Sabah’s east coast since Jan 1.
MIRI: The 20th Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment (20th RMR) here welcomed home the contingent of over 300 soldiers involved in ‘Ops Pasir Selatan’, a border surveillance stint on the east coast of Sabah.
Speaking to returning troops at Sri Miri Camp on Wednesday, commanding officer Lt Col Zamri Othman said the soldiers from the battalion had served the national security well without any major threats encountered during the three-month stint.
This is the first time an end-of-operation parade was mounted by the battalion and the 20th Battalion is planning to make it a tradition to welcome home soldiers from their tour of duty for such operations.
“As this is a major operation, it is suitable to be the beginning of a new tradition in welcoming back troops from deployment,” said Zamri.
The troops were in charge of monitoring 11 islands in the area as well as two locations on land.
Following the abduction of 23 people from Pulau Sipadan by Abu Sayyaf bandits in 2000, the Cabinet had issued orders for the army to monitor the islands and waters off the east coast of Sabah.
Since the launch of Ops Pasir, there has been a significant reduction in kidnapping cases, pirate attacks, and entry of illegal immigrants.
Ironically, the nation was rocked by news of yet another kidnapping from a resort off the coast of Semporna on Wednesday night.
Six unidentified gunmen abducted a 29-year-old Chinese woman from Shanghai and a Filipino worker at the resort in this latest incident which is bound to affect tourist arrivals here.
This incident occurred only a day after the return of Ops Pasir Selatan personnel from 20th RMR here after patrolling Sabah’s east coast since Jan 1.
Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) director general Datuk Mohammad Mentek had confirmed that the abductions occurred.
The last known case of kidnapping in the east coast was in November last year when a Taiwanese tourist was shot dead while his wife was abducted and brought to the southern Philippine Island of Jolo.