18 May 2021 | 08:02 AM UTC
Malaysia: Officials kill five members of Abu Sayyaf Group in Beaufort, Sabah State, May 17
Malaysian officials kill five Abu Sayyaf Group members in Beaufort, Sabah, May 17. Kidnapping threat remains high, especially in east Sabah.
Event
Security personnel fatally shot five Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members in the Taman Sri Arjuna area, Beaufort, Sabah State, the morning of May 17. Officials were conducting a follow-up to a May 8 operation that detained eight other ASG members in the area. Authorities have warned that the ASG may stage retaliatory attacks following the incidents.
The incident site is around 74 km (46 miles) south-southwest of Kota Kinabalu.
Context
The ASG is based in the southern Philippines and is known for encroaching into Malaysian waters to perpetrate kidnappings and cross-border crimes, including against foreign tourists, particularly in eastern Sabah. The threat of kidnappings and cross-border incursions remains high in the waters off eastern Sabah. Officials have enforced an overnight 18:00-06:00 curfew in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone), which includes Beluran, Kinabatangan, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Semporna, and Tawau districts, since July 2014 and regularly extend the restrictions. The Beaufort incidents indicate possible increased ASG activity in western Sabah.
