The militants of the Sulu Sultanate in Sabah, Malaysia claim they are back to fighting strength after being reinforced by about 100 more men from Sulu.Sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani said Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, brother of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, had regrouped his forces, which had dwindled to around 135 men since the fighting broke out on March 1.
Idjirani said the new development was relayed to him by Agbimuddin by phone. He said, “We can say our Royal Security Forces are back in fighting strength. They have joined forces and regrouped.”
But Col. Rodrigo Gregorio, spokesman for the Philippine military’s Western Mindanao Command, on Friday said they had no reports to confirm the claim. He said, “We have no confirmatory report about that. As far as our naval blockade is concerned, it is continuing in a daily and even nightly basis.”
Still, Gregorio admitted he could not discount the possibility of the insertion happening. He said, “We cannot really prevent their entry because of the porousness of the area. But we’re doing everything to prevent these reinforcements of the sultanate.”
Idjirani said the Sultanate of Sulu expected more supporters from Sulu and Tawi-Tawi to sail to Sabah despite the naval cordon put up by the Philippine and Malaysian navies. He said, “What they lack in Sabah is food. They do not have enough provisions because of the tight cordon of the Malaysian security forces.”
Based on the Malaysian estimates, at least 68 sultanate fighters have been killed in encounters with Malaysian security forces, although less than 50 bodies have been recovered. Nine Malaysian policemen and soldiers have also been killed.