'Takluk: Lahad Datu' is inspired by 2013 battle in Sabah where an incursion led to loss of lives in Malaysia’s armed forces

The police has no choice but to go full force to ensure safety of everyone. Photos: Handout

The incursion by Sulu gunmen in 2013 in Lahad Datu, Sabah, that led to a standoff and later a shootout with the Malaysian security forces, is a black mark in the country’s history as lives were lost, and peace was threatened.

But that event is something that needs to be told, reckoned director Zulkarnain Azhar, whose new film Takluk: Lahad Datu is inspired by what happened at the East Coast from Feb 9 to March 25, 2013.