Police still identifying three gunmen killed in Sabah

LAHAD DATU: Police are still in the midst of identifying the three men who were killed in a shootout with the force at a plantation area in Batu 2, Jalan Kalabakan-Keningau, near Tawau on Tuesday (Feb 27).  

Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) commander DCP Datuk Hazani Ghazali said the police had sent the fingerprints and photographs of the trio to Interpol and sought assistance from their counterparts in neighbouring countries for verification.  

“We do not know whether the suspects were from Daesh (Islamic State), Abu Sayyaf or any other (militant) group,” he said when contacted here Thursday (March 1).

DCP Hazani was commenting on a news report headlined "Abu Sayyaf leader shot dead in Tawau".  

He said the article was based on unspecified intelligence sources, adding that he could not confirm the report.  

At a press conference in Tawau Wednesday (Feb 28), DCP Hazani said the three men who were gunned down in the 3.20pm incident were suspected to have had links to a terrorist network, based on the weapons they owned and their tactics during the shootout.  

The police also seized a Kancil car which was reported missing in Kota Kinabalu in 2010, a revolver, rifle with bullets and a black bag containing nine bullets. – Bernama