Sabah police commissioner Hamza Taib said post mortems had been conducted 22 of the 28 bodies of terrorists which were brought out from areas under ‘Ops Daulat’.     

The bodies included that of a terrorist who was shot in a shootout in Kampung Tanjung Batu today, he told a media conference which was jointly held with Army First Infantry Division commander Major-General Datuk Ahmad Zaki Mokhtar at Felda Sahabat 16 near Lahad Datu about 5.30pm today.     

Malaysia had given the Philippines three days, as per the Geneva Convention, to claim the bodies of their citizens killed in the ‘Ops Daulat’ offensive against Sulu terrorists who had intruded into Sabah on Feb 12.     

The deadline ends today with no response from Manila.     

Hamza said he did not rule out the possibility of the terrorists having escaped to Pulau Tambisan, about 100 kilometres from Felda Sahabat.     

However, he said, the security forces had tightened patrol at all strategic areas for any enemy movement.     

He said he was optimistic that the operation to flush out the remaining terrorists in Kampung Tanjung Batu would be completed tomorrow, following which the security team would focus in areas in Tanjung Labian and Sungai Bilis.     

Meanwhile, Ahmad Zaki reminded the people from entering into areas under ‘Ops Daulat’ to enable the security members to carry out their task effectively.     

So far, 62 terrorists had been killed, 104 detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 and 241 people, including nine who were arrested yesterday and today, for being in the ‘Ops Daulat’ red zone area and other offences.     

- Bernama