• Burmese
Monday, May 12, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
30 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

Malaysia Says 31 Filipinos Fatally Shot in Borneo

Sean Yoong by Sean Yoong
March 8, 2013
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Malaysia Says 31 Filipinos Fatally Shot in Borneo

A Malaysian soldier keeps lookout before the arrival of Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak to Lahad Datu

2.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian security forces gunned down 31 Filipino intruders in Borneo on Thursday, the highest number of casualties in a single day since nearly 200 members of a Philippine Muslim clan took over an entire village last month, police said.

However, representatives of the Filipino group denied their members had been killed.

The armed clansmen have wreaked political havoc for both Malaysia and the neighboring Philippines by trying to stake a long-dormant royal territorial claim to Malaysia’s sprawling, resource-rich state of Sabah in Borneo.

RelatedPosts

Breaking the 60-Year Political Cycle in Myanmar

Breaking the 60-Year Political Cycle in Myanmar

May 12, 2025
84
US and China Discuss Trade War ‘De-escalation’

US and China Discuss Trade War ‘De-escalation’

May 10, 2025
392
Myanmar Junta Chief Meets China’s Xi for First Time: State Media

Myanmar Junta Chief Meets China’s Xi for First Time: State Media

May 10, 2025
1.2k

Most of the Filipinos had eluded capture in a coastal Sabah district filled with palm oil plantations and forested hills after Malaysian forces attacked them with airstrikes and mortar fire on Tuesday.

Police and military forces tracking them waged a fierce gun battle that ended in the deaths of 31 clansmen Thursday, national police chief Ismail Omar said, adding that no Malaysians were injured.

But Abraham Idjirani, a Philippine-based representative for the clansmen, said he spoke by telephone Thursday evening with the group’s leader, who insisted all of them remained accounted for. He claimed Malaysian forces had instead killed dozens of civilian villagers.

The conflicting claims could not immediately be explained.

Ismail said at least 52 Filipinos have now been killed in the past week since hostilities in the Sabah security crisis escalated. Eight policemen also were fatally shot by the Filipino clansmen and their allies last week in various parts of Sabah.

Less than two hours before the announcement of the casualties, Prime Minister Najib Razak rejected a ceasefire call by Philippine-based members of the clan led by Jamalul Kiram III, who claims to be the sultan, or hereditary ruler, of the southern, predominantly Muslim province of Sulu in the Philippines.

A brother of Kiram, the sultan who lives in Manila, is heading the group in Sabah. Kiram had ordered them to observe a unilateral ceasefire starting Thursday afternoon by holding their current position and taking a defensive posture.

Najib responded by saying Malaysia would accept only unconditional surrender by the clansmen, who slipped into Sabah by sea around Feb. 9.

“They have to surrender their arms. They have to do it as soon as possible,” Najib said at a nationally televised news conference.

“Don’t believe this offer of a cease-fire by Jamalul Kiram,” Malaysian Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi wrote on Twitter. “For the sake of the people of Sabah and Malaysia, eliminate all militants first.”

Idjirani said a cease-fire would be in line with a statement of concern by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon late Wednesday.

Ban “urges an end to the violence and encourages dialogue among all the parties for a peaceful resolution of the situation,” according to the statement issued by Ban’s representative.

Ban voiced concerns about how the crisis might affect civilians, including Filipino migrants in Sabah, and urged “all parties to facilitate delivery of humanitarian assistance and act in full respect of international human rights norms and standards,” according to the statement.

Malaysia’s government has insisted it made every effort to coax the Filipinos to leave and had to use force after the group fatally shot two policemen last week. Six other police officers were ambushed and killed by other Filipinos believed to be linked to the clansmen in another Sabah district.

The Filipinos say Sabah belonged to their royal sultanate for more than a century and should be handed back. Malaysia has dismissed their claim to the state, which has been part of Malaysia for five decades.

An estimated 800,000 Filipinos, mostly Muslims from insurgency-plagued southern provinces, have settled in Sabah over the years to seek work and stability.

Your Thoughts …
Sean Yoong

Sean Yoong

Reuters

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
97.9k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
88.4k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
86.9k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
58.8k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
46.6k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.4k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post

Indonesian Volcano Spews Ash into Sky

Little PSY Goes Solo after 'Gangnam Style' Cameo

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Fury Over China’s Support for Myanmar Junta Eclipses Quake Aid Gratitude 

Fury Over China’s Support for Myanmar Junta Eclipses Quake Aid Gratitude 

5 days ago
1.2k
Inside the Myanmar Junta’s Post-Earthquake Theater of Control

Inside the Myanmar Junta’s Post-Earthquake Theater of Control

5 days ago
966

Most Read

  • Heavy Casualties as Myanmar Junta Pushes to Reclaim Mandalay Gold Hub  

    Heavy Casualties as Myanmar Junta Pushes to Reclaim Mandalay Gold Hub  

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Chief Meets China’s Xi for First Time: State Media

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • A Troubling Message from China’s Ambassador to Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • KNU Hails Seizure of Myanmar Junta Base on Thai Border

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta ‘Seizes Eight TNLA Positions’

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.