A Filipino clan leader who occupied a Malaysian village in island of Sabah with nearly 200 followers has said Malaysian police opened fired at them, reportedly killing at least 10 of its members.
Raja Muda Abimuddin Kiram( photo), the leader of the armed group, told Al Jazeera's Jamela Alindogan on Saturday that authorities fired at them in an apparent bid to end the three-week
standoff that threatened to complicate the relations between the two countries.
Alindogan reported she "could hear gunshots [in] the background", when she talked to Kiram on the phone.
standoff that threatened to complicate the relations between the two countries.
Alindogan reported she "could hear gunshots [in] the background", when she talked to Kiram on the phone.
However, there have been no confirmation from the Philippine and Malaysian government.
Members of a Muslim royal clan, who call themselves the 'royal sulu army', from the southern Philippines landed in a coastal village in Sabah on February 9 to claim the territory as their own, citing ownership documents from the late 1800s.
They ignored appeals from Philippine President Benigno Aquino III to leave immediately or face prosecution at home on charges of triggering armed conflict.<>
Source: Agencies
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