A VAT69 commando told the High Court today that the position he and his colleague were in when implementing a close reconnaissance operation in Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu, on March 1 was noticed by a group of armed intruders.

Corporal Azman Ampong, 38, said he and Corporal Mohd Tarmizi Hashim saw five or six people with some of them holding firearms while some had sharp weapons such as parang on their hips.

“When the group realised our presence, one of them pointed towards us and called his friends to keep watch.

“At the same time, one or two of them were seen waving their hands behind their back as if to gesture.

“Then more came, about 20 to 50 of them,” he said in his statement at a trial for 30 people for various terrorism-related activities in Sabah, which includes waging war on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, held at the Sabah Prisons Department in Kota Kinabalu.

Azman said a man was seen giving another group member, believed to be the leader, a piece of wood to be used as a cane with an A4 size paper attached to it.

“The leader moved towards us. When he was about 30 to 60 metres away, I saw two others following him with weapons.

“Then the leader spoke in Bahasa Suluk: ‘Ayau kamu rindi, muit kamu’ three times and gestured three times with his hand for us to go,” he said.

Azman, who was born in Pulau Bum-Bum, Semporna, said he understood the man although he was not fluent in Bahasa Suluk.

According to the court interpreter, the man had said: “Don’t be here. Go back.”

Azman said he and Mohd Tarmizi had kept quiet after the man spoke.

“Maybe they realised that we weren’t doing anything or didn’t understand what was said. He then shouted ‘Allahuakbar’ two times and then the two men behind him fired shots in our direction,” he said.

‘Cold sensation in right thigh’

He said he and his colleague did not retaliate, but he could feel a cold sensation in his right thigh two minutes after the shot was fired.

“Apparently I was shot on the spot where I felt the cold,” he said, adding that he was also shot on the hip while Mohd Tarmizi was shot on the left thigh and left arm.

When asked by attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail: “What did you say to Mohd Tarmizi after you were shot?” Azman said he asked his friend if he was capable of shooting.

“When he (Mohd Tarmizi) said ‘yes’ then I responded ‘what are you waiting for buddy, shoot’ and then we started shooting,” he said.

The trial before Judge Stephen Chung continues this evening.

- Bernama