Ayub Khan, with members of the Malaysian Armed Forces Detachment in a photo shoot before chairing the monitoring meeting yesterday.
LAHAD DATU: The Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) through its air operations division will mobilize efforts to increase the security level in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) with the empowerment of integrated air monitoring and control.
ESSCom Air Operation Division chief of staff, Brigadier General Ayub Khan Mohamad, said this initiative will be implemented with the cooperation of the Malaysian Armed Forces aircrafts that are based in the Sabah east coast.
It will involve the Royal Malaysian Navy and Royal Malaysian Air Force with the use of Fennec helicopter from KD Sri Semporna, Nuri helicopter from Tawau and Agusta helicopter from Skuadron 881 Pangkalan Udara Tentera Darat in Sandakan. Two others, a Hawk and B200T aircraft from 6 Skuadron and 16 Skuadron will be brought in from the Labuan air base.
He said this is important for identifying any intrusion or entry of any parties that could threaten the peace and security in Sabah east coast, especially in the waters close to the Malaysian and Philippines border.
“ESSCom’s drastic step also aims to combat all types of cross-border criminal elements that had always made ESSZone as the staging point to commit crime, such as kidnapping and smuggling,” he said.
Ayub Khan said this after chairing the meeting on monitoring operation with the Malaysian Armed Forces Detachments at ESSCom Headquarters, yesterday.
According to Ayub Khan, the air operation was to complement the other operations implemented by the other divisions under ESSCom, such as the integrated operations, Ops Gasak and Ops Gasak Laut.
He said this initiative also serves as a strategic approach to increase the presence of security forces, especially the assets in ESSZone, to showcase the readiness of ESSCom in facing any eventuality.
“I would like to thank all the detachments of the Malaysian Armed Forces for always supporting and providing commitment to the air operation division in efforts to increase the security level in the Sabah east coast through assistance and support in patrolling although we know that each forces have their own routine in their respective responsibility areas.
“With this cooperation, it will further increase the security level in Sabah to enable the people, especially the maritime community as well as the tourists, to visit these areas without any fear,” he added.