Report: Kiram follower shot dead in Sabah gun battle

At least another suspected follower of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III was gunned down in a clash in Sabah Sunday, Malaysian authorities said. The gunfight broke a five-day lull in the area, according to a report posted Sunday afternoon on Malaysia's The Star Online. Army field commander Lt. Gen. Datuk Seri Zulkiple Kassim was quoted in the report as saying the encounter occurred at 10:15 a.m. after skirmishes in Kg Tanjung Batu. "We believe they (Kiram followers) are still in the area and we have surrounded it," he said. Before Sunday's encounter, the last gunfight occurred last Tuesday when a soldier was killed and another injured, and three Kiram followers were killed near Sungai Nyamuk. Meanwhile, Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said a man detained in Semporna for suspected links with the Kiram followers has died. But Hamza said the death was due to illness and not due to suicide. The report quoted Hamza as saying police are still determining if 104 detainees held under the Special Ordinance and Security Measures Act of 2012 have links to the Kiram follower. Meanwhile, a report by GMA TV's Cedric Castillo said the death of the detainee brought to 62 the number of suspected Kiram followers who had died since clashes broke out in Lahad Datu March 1. — LBG, GMA News