Malaysian security forces literally had only seconds to respond to a group of Sulu terrorists, upon stumbling on them in Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu when a shootout broke out on March 1.

Superintendent Mancha Anak Laga of the General Operations Force’s (GOF) VAT69 Commando told the High Court, which convened at the Sabah Prisons Department in Kota Kinabalu, that about 10am that day, his team encountered a group comprising between 35 and 40 people, wearing camouflage uniform and shouting at them in Bahasa Malaysia, “ Tiger! Berambus kau dari sini. Ini bumi kami! ” (“Tiger! Get out of here. This is our land!”) and then, started shooting at his men.

When asked by deputy public prosecutor Abdul Wahab Mohamed how long it took between the time the intruders shouted at them and when the shooting broke out, he said: “About three to four seconds.”

“After they started shooting continuously, my team and I took cover and we started firing back at them. It (skirmish) lasted for about an hour.

“During the exchange of fire, one of my men, Corporal Sabaruddin Daud was killed due to severe injuries to his head after being shot by the intruders,” he said.

Mancha was the prosecution’s third witness in the trial of 30 people charged with various offences related to terrorism activities in Sabah last year.

He said he had informed his tactical commander, Abdul Rashid Harun, of the skirmish and the casualty, via walkie-talkie.

He also heard that another team had experienced a casualty, namely Inspector Zulkifli Mamat, via his walkie-talkie.

After the shootout ended, Mancha and his team went to inspect the location of the attack and found the bodies of 12 of the terrorists they had shot dead, and several firearms.

Asked by Abdul Wahab if he knew what the word, ‘tiger’, used by the intruders meant, Mancha said it referred to him and his team members.

Cop saw group of men in camouflage uniform

Earlier, an auxiliary policeman at Felda Sahabat, Lahad Datu told the court he had seen a group of men in camouflage uniform at Kampung Tanduo after a fishing expedition on the morning of Feb 12.

Mohd Ali Asmadi, 40, said he estimated there were more than 100 men in the village.

“I was sure they were not members of the Malaysian Army because I had never seen a Malaysian soldier wearing that kind of uniform,” he said.

Mohd Ali said he and his fishing mate Saharizan Shardik were at the rivermouth of the village and were 15-20 metres from the village surau where some of the men had converged.

He said he also saw some of the men walking on the shoreline, while others were standing on the dirt road of the village.

According to Mohd Ali, he and his friend went to fish in the sea off Kampung Tanduo, since the previous evening until the following morning.

At about 2am on Feb 12, he heard a loud engine sound and noticed the silhouette of a large vessel sail pass his boat from the open sea to the shoreline of Kampung Tanduo.

“After a while, the sound of the engine ceased. But 15 minutes later, we heard the engine sound again and from the sound, it seemed the boat was heading back to the open sea.

“This time, it was some distance from our boat,” he explained.

Mohd Ali said he and his friend took some time to leave the village as they wanted to make sure they would not be caught by the intruders.

Report lodged that afternoon

That afternoon, Mohd Ali lodged a report on the intrusion at the Cenderawasih police station in Felda Sahabat.

Twenty-two of the 30 individuals jointly being tried, including two Malaysian men, are charged with waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, which carries the death penalty or life imprisonment, and being members of a terrorist group, punishable with life imprisonment and a fine upon conviction.

Of the 22, one faces two additional charges of recruiting members of a terrorist group and harbouring persons knowing that they were members of a terrorist group.

Of the remaining eight, five are accused of being members of a terrorist group; one of them, the sole woman of the 30 and a Malaysian citizen, is charged with harbouring persons knowing they were members of a terrorist group, while two are charged with attempting to harbour persons knowing they were members of a terrorist group.

The rest are Philippine nationals.

They are all accused of committing the respective offences between Feb 12 and April 10, last year.

The hearing, before Justice Stephen Chung, continues tomorrow.

- Bernama