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| Malaysian Incursion by Filipinos Ends in a Deadly Clash | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| MANILA — An obscure, centuries-old territorial dispute between Malaysia and the Philippines erupted in violence on Friday, leaving at least 13 people dead and straining relations between the close Southeast Asian neighbors. | MANILA — An obscure, centuries-old territorial dispute between Malaysia and the Philippines erupted in violence on Friday, leaving at least 13 people dead and straining relations between the close Southeast Asian neighbors. |
| Malaysian security forces battled on Friday morning with about 180 Filipinos, some of whom were armed, in an effort to remove them from a remote coastal village they had occupied for two weeks in the northeastern Malaysian state of Sabah. | Malaysian security forces battled on Friday morning with about 180 Filipinos, some of whom were armed, in an effort to remove them from a remote coastal village they had occupied for two weeks in the northeastern Malaysian state of Sabah. |
| The Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported that 10 to 12 Filipinos died in the clash and two Malaysian police commandos were killed in a mortar attack. | |
| The group, which represented itself as a royal militia in service of the sultanate of Sulu, which for centuries controlled the southern Philippines and part of what is now the Malaysian state of Sabah, arrived by boat on Feb. 12 to re-establish its long-dormant claim to the area. | The group, which represented itself as a royal militia in service of the sultanate of Sulu, which for centuries controlled the southern Philippines and part of what is now the Malaysian state of Sabah, arrived by boat on Feb. 12 to re-establish its long-dormant claim to the area. |
| The Philippines and Malaysia for weeks had tried to persuade the group to leave peacefully. The Malaysian authorities, who had surrounded the Filipinos, had given repeated deadlines for the group to leave peacefully. The deadlines passed without incident until Friday, when the violence erupted. | The Philippines and Malaysia for weeks had tried to persuade the group to leave peacefully. The Malaysian authorities, who had surrounded the Filipinos, had given repeated deadlines for the group to leave peacefully. The deadlines passed without incident until Friday, when the violence erupted. |
| “Our patience has reached the limit,” Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia was quoted as saying on Friday by Bernama. | “Our patience has reached the limit,” Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia was quoted as saying on Friday by Bernama. |
| The battle on Friday apparently ended the standoff, Malaysian diplomatic officials told their Philippine counterparts. But the fate of the Filipinos in the area was unclear. Raul Hernandez, a Philippine foreign affairs spokesman, suggested that some had fled the fighting and some had been arrested, but he did not provide further details during a news briefing on Friday. | The battle on Friday apparently ended the standoff, Malaysian diplomatic officials told their Philippine counterparts. But the fate of the Filipinos in the area was unclear. Raul Hernandez, a Philippine foreign affairs spokesman, suggested that some had fled the fighting and some had been arrested, but he did not provide further details during a news briefing on Friday. |
| “It appears that what has been transpiring has ended,” said the Philippine president, Benigno S. Aquino III, who was traveling in the central Philippines. | “It appears that what has been transpiring has ended,” said the Philippine president, Benigno S. Aquino III, who was traveling in the central Philippines. |
| There were different accounts of how the violence started. | |
| Ricky Carandang, a Philippine presidential spokesman, said it appeared to have begun when the Filipinos tried to breach the perimeter established by Malaysian police. “They apparently tried to leave the area and were stopped,” Mr. Carandang said by telephone.” | |
| The Malaysian home minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, said on his Twitter account that “the situation is fully under control.” | |
| “I confirm that our security forces have not taken a single shot, but were shot at at 10 a.m. this morning,” he wrote on Friday, adding that the group at that point was still surrounded by the Malaysian police. | “I confirm that our security forces have not taken a single shot, but were shot at at 10 a.m. this morning,” he wrote on Friday, adding that the group at that point was still surrounded by the Malaysian police. |
| But the Filipinos said they did not start the confrontation. Abraham Idjirani, a spokesman in Manila for the armed group, said Friday that at about 6 a.m. Friday the Malaysian police began approaching the perimeter and shots were fired. The police then retreated, he said. | |
| He said that 10 Filipinos had been killed and that four were injured in the assault. “The first shot came from the Malaysian authorities,” the spokesman said. | |