BEAUFORT – Another eight squatter houses used as a hideout by Abu Sayyaf members were destroyed in a special operation today.
The structures, located behind Taman Sri Arjuna here, were destroyed by district police and Rela personnel.
District police chief Yusoff Zaki Yaacob said it is the second such operation to tear down all the squatter houses used by 38 members of the militant group.
“The squatter houses were used by individuals involved in guerilla warfare. They were not easily detected even in an aerial survey.”
Overall, 14 such houses have been destroyed, with the third operation expected to begin soon.
On May 10, 37 people were arrested in a mangrove site next to a residential area in Beaufort, over 90km from Kota Kinabalu. Eight men in the group are allegedly linked to Abu Sayyaf.
A shoot-out followed seven days later, in which five suspected militants were killed, among them Sansibar Besion, who was wanted in the Philippines.
The eight detained have been handed over to Philippine security forces. – The Vibes, June 11, 2021
