Malaysian authorities have arrested 12 Filipinos and one Malaysian hiding in Sabah who are suspected members of terrorist groups or were protecting terrorists. Some of them are allegedly involved in the deadly 2017 Marawi siege in the southern Philippines.
Malaysian Police Inspector General Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun announced on Monday that the suspects were captured in the Semporna and Tambunan areas in Sabah last week.
The arrest was done during a two-day operation done by the police’s Counter Terrorism special division which included intelligence officers and commandos, reported Malaysia news agency Bernama.
“All of them were arrested on suspicion of being members of one of several terrorist groups, such as the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), Maute and Royal Sulu Force (RSF). Some of them are suspected to have given protection to terrorist elements believed to be in hiding in Sabah,” he was quoted saying by Bernama.
The first arrests happened on March 11, The Straits Times reported. Five Filipinos and a Malaysian — all of whom were men aged between 40 and 60 — were arrested in Semporna. Two were suspected members of the RSF involved in the 2013 attacks in Lahad Datu and Semporna.
Meanwhile, four of the suspects were believed to be involved in the Marawi siege in 2017 together with the Maute group. They also allegedly gave protection to the Maute and several Middle Easterners hiding in Sabah.
Also on March 11, the police arrested five Filipinos and a Filipina, aged between 23 and 63, in Tambunan, Malaysia-based newspaper Malay Mail reported. Five are suspected to have given shelter to terrorist members of ASG and Maute, while one of them was a suspected member of the ASG involved in the attack on Marawi City.
Mohamad Fuzi added that on March 12, a 39-year-old Filipino construction worker was arrested on suspicion of having given shelter to ASG and Maute terrorists.
The combined Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups attacked Marawi City in Mindanao in 2017 in an attempt to establish an Islamic state in the city. The Marawi siege displaced 350,000 civilians and left more than a thousand killed in the battle, most of whom were terrorists.
In December, President Rodrigo Duterte imposed an extension of martial law in the entire Mindanao until Dec. 31, 2019. It was the third time martial law was extended. Duterte said it was so that violent acts would end in the region.
