26 Aug 2021 | 04:26 AM UTC
Malaysia: Officials kill two members of Abu Sayyaf Group in Sandakan, Sabah State, Aug. 20
Malaysian officials kill two Abu Sayyaf Group members in Sandakan, Sabah, Aug. 20. Kidnapping threat remains high, especially in east Sabah.
Event
Security personnel fatally shot two Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members at Bornhill Palm Oil Estate on Timbang Island, Sandakan, Sabah State, the morning of Aug. 20. Officials were conducting a follow-up to an Aug. 18 operation that resulted in the arrest of seven other ASG members in the area. The suspects allegedly planned to abduct the owners of two estates in Sandakan and Sukau.
Context
The ASG is based in the southern Philippines and is known to encroach 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.
