page_title: 2013 Lahad Datu standoff
section_title: 1 March skirmish
hierarchical_section_title: 2013 Lahad Datu standoff / Military operations / 1 March skirmish
caption_attribution_description: English: Tunku, Sabah: Military control station near Kg. Tanduo; used during Lahad Datu Standoff 2013
context_page_description: The 2013 Lahad Datu standoff was a military conflict that started on 11 February 2013 and fully ended on 24 March 2013. The conflict began when 235 militants, some of whom were armed, arrived by boats in Lahad Datu District, Sabah, Malaysia from Simunul island, Tawi-Tawi, in the southern Philippines. The group, calling themselves the "Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo", was sent by Jamalul Kiram III, one of the claimants to the throne of the Sultanate of Sulu.
  Kiram III stated that their objective was to assert the unresolved territorial claim of the Philippines to eastern Sabah. Malaysian security forces surrounded the village of Tanduo in Lahad Datu, where the group had gathered and, after several weeks of negotiations and deadlines for the intruders to withdraw, especially after the killing of Malaysian police members, launched a major operation to flush out the militants. At the end of the standoff, around fifty-six militants were killed, together with six civilians and ten Malaysian security force personnel. The rest of the militants were either captured, or escaped back to the Philippines.
context_section_description: At around 10:15 am on 1 March 2013, three days after Malaysia's extended deadline for the group to leave Lahad Datu, a confrontation occurred between the sultanate's forces and the Malaysian police, with shots exchanged. According to Abraham Idjirani, Kiram's spokesperson, 10 members of their army were killed with four more injured as a result of the skirmish. There were also two casualties among the Malaysian police officers. The owner of the house where Agbimuddin Kiram and his men had stayed was also killed in the exchange of gunfire. Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein claimed that Kiram's men opened fire and denied that their security forces retaliated.
  Initial reports from the Malaysian embassy in the Philippines had stated that there were no fatalities in the shooting. Ambassador Mohammad Zamri bin Mohammad Kassim told Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario that the "standoff was over" and that 10 "royal army" members had surrendered to Malaysian authorities after the assault. He added that members of Kiram's group had escaped and ran towards the sea. He said a pursuit for them ensued. Idjirani responded that none of their members were in Malaysian custody after the shooting incident. He also denied that their forces fled to the sea after their clash with the police. He said "the standoff is not over, unless there's a concrete understanding or agreement that can be reached" between the sultanate and the governments of Malaysia and the Philippines.
  Idjirani claimed that Malaysian officials wanted "to cover up the truth" when they claimed that no one was hurt in the incident. He also appealed to the Malaysian government to stop the attack, saying Kiram's men were primarily armed only with bolos and knives and only a few had guns. He also claimed that snipers from the Malaysian police were targeting their group. He added that the sultanate is now looking at the possibility of elevating the matter to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations Human Rights Commission. He also said that their men had moved to another location to continue their fight and urged Malaysia to hold talks.
  Sabah Police Commissioner Hamza Taib meanwhile said no one from Kiram's followers surrendered to Malaysian authorities. He added that 12 men from Kiram's group were killed when they tried to break out of the security cordon imposed by Malaysian security forces. Hamza claimed that the Filipinos opened fire at the Malaysian police before they were forced to retaliate in self-defence, resulting in a gun battle. He said they found various weapons, including M16 rifles, pistols and SLR rifles and ammunition from the group. Hamza also denied reports from a foreign news agency that the gunmen had given themselves up and escaped to the sea. He said Agbimuddin's group were still in Tanduo and that the security cordon was being maintained because Malaysia wants the occupation to be resolved peacefully.
  Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak later confirmed that two police officers, identified as Inspector Zulkifli Bin Mamat and Corporal Sabaruddin Bin Daud from 69 Commandos, were killed in the shootout. The Sabah police commissioner, in a separate statement, said that 12 of Kiram's followers died. Najib said he had now given Malaysian security forces a mandate to take "any action" against the group. Najib added that "there will be no compromise" for the sultanate's forces and that "either they surrender or face the consequences".
caption: One of the locations where the shootout took place on a palm oil plantation, today the site had been transformed into a Malaysian Army controlled station.
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