Malaysia intensifies hunt for Filipino invaders
Authorities expand search, Philippine guerilla says more fighters have arrived
Malaysia yesterday escalated its hunt for armed Filipino invaders who dodged a military assault meant to crush them, as a Philippine guerrilla warned more fighters had arrived.
Malaysia's police chief said followers of a self-styled Muslim sultan had scattered after an air and ground attack on Tuesday on their stronghold in eastern Sabah state, aimed at ending Malaysia's worst security crisis in years.
Authorities had "expanded the operations area", Ismail Omar said in Felda Sahabat, a village about 15 kilometres from the site of the three-week stand-off.
Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said security forces found the bodies of 13 Philippine Muslims as they continued searching for more than 200 insurgents.
The armed group arrived in Sabah on Borneo island from the adjacent southern Philippines on February 12, claiming it for their "sultan" and tearing open a long-dormant territorial row.
Following an initial stand-off in the sleepy farming village of Tanduo, two shootouts erupted there and in another town in recent days, which together with related violence has left 19 militants and eight police officers reported dead.