Sorry, folks! I still don’t know the results of Tuesday’s offensive against the Sulu gunmen. I also cannot ascertain if the bombs that rained down on them were duds or if they did the job they were supposed to do. And if they were not duds, whether they hit their targets. It is already forty-eight hours.
But if you read what was reported by Malaysian newspapers, you may think that I was wrong and that we have achieved good results! Utusan Malaysia yesterday made the bold claim that thirty were killed in 'Ops Daulat'. [Okay, I know we all know that this newspaper has consistently proven itself to be fiction writers!] The Sun on its front page today mentioned twelve killed and that their bodies were found in a shallow grave covered with planks, where their comrades were believed to have buried them. The Malay Mail indicated thirteen dead, twelve in mass graves. [Note: Plural ‘graves’]. The Star Online this morning “followed” the so-called official count and tallied up nine bodies, but at the same time, it also said there were (unnamed) sources who claimed that some 50 bodies of the estimated 130 gunmen were scattered around in Kampung Tanduo. New Straits Times Online stated thirteen. And there you have it – the reports from Malaysian mainstream newspapers! As I have already hinted, I cannot conclude anything because all the reports lacked clarity and precision. I have a bad feeling that they were made deliberately ambiguous.
Methinks that these people who gave press conferences should join Toastmasters – evidently, our Malaysian reporters didn’t understand them and that was why they heard and received mixed messages. Obviously, the people doing the briefing didn’t communicate effectively. Most likely, they didn’t know how. Or they didn’t want to. A sad situation because the whole country won't know what is actually happening in this part of the country! I am not wrong to say that the first casualty in this Sabah conflict is the truth!
To add to the befuddling obfuscation, in one of the press conferences yesterday, Armed Forces chief Zulkifli Mohd Zain believed that the nine people that were discovered yesterday to be buried in Kampung Tanduo were killed during a gun battle with security forces last Friday, and not from Tuesday's aerial-and-ground assault (Malaysiakini at webpage http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/223094)
As far as he is concerned – if he is to be believed – the confirmed intruders killed at this particular location since the Friday skirmish numbered 13 – including the lone gunman shot dead yesterday morning (6:45 AM) during the mopping-up exercise. That means he is telling us that so far, he doesn’t know yet if anybody was killed from Tuesday’s air raid and ground assault.
Apparently, Malaysian officials are still tightlipped on the confirmed kills from Tuesday's offensive. Or they still don’t know.
Other developments. Police arrested four men, aged between 20 and 50, believed to be linked to the armed intruders involved in the ambush in Kampung Sri Jaya, Simunul here last Saturday. According to police sources, the special operation took place in Jalan Lapangan Terbang, five kilometers from Semporna town and it was aimed at tracking down the intruders currently impersonating villagers (The Malay Mail, March 07, 2013, p 06). Also The Sun reported that two men were detained yesterday as they tried to leave Tanjung Labian, the village adjacent to Kampung Tandao. And another man suspected of intruding into Malaysian waters at the Felda Sahabat 16 coastline was apprehended (March 07, 2013, p 03).
Still, a significant number of the Sulu fighters were believed to have slipped out of the cordoned area, with Tanjung Batu villagers reporting seeing up to 50 gunmen on Sunday night and a dozen or so the following night before Tuesday’s bombings.
As such, Malaysian security forces have now expanded the radius of their operations beyond Kampung Tandao. Hmmn, I would have thought that they would have properly secured the area before they launched their all-out assault on Tuesday. Weren't there supposed to be five battalions there?
Malaysians have cause to worry.
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