No Safe Haven, Security Forces on Both Sides of the Malaysia-Philippine Border Hit ASG

摘要

The Abu Sayyaf group has been hit in several fronts on both sides of the Malaysia-Philippine border recently with more than a dozen of terrorists killed or captured by security forces including key leaders. Malaysian police said five suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf militant group were killed in a Shootout in the state of Sabah on the Malaysian part of Borneo. Sabah has long grappled with the threat of cross-border terrorism and kidnappers taking advantage of the proximity and porous maritime borders between the southern Philippines and the Malaysian state. The five men killed in a night Shootout May 17 in a squatter area included Mabar Binda, an Abu Sayyaf sub-commander on the Philippine government's wanted list, Sabah state police commissioner Hazani Ghazali said. Hazani said police responded with gunfire after one of the suspects opened fire during the raid. Officers found two pistols, ammunition and three machetes. "With the fall of these five, the police are confident we have crippled one Abu Sayyaf cell hiding out in Sabah," Hazani said. The police had detained 83 people in Sabah between 2014 and 2020 for suspected links to Islamic State, the Commissioner said.