KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian police have detained 79 suspects linked to Filipino intruders in Borneo as they intensify an operation to flush out members of a Filipino Muslim clan who took over an entire village last month.
The armed clansmen have caused political havoc for Malaysia and Philippines by staking a long-dormant royal territorial claim to Malaysia's resource-rich state of Sabah in Borneo. Most of them eluded capture in a coastal Sabah district after Malaysian forces attacked them with airstrikes and mortar fire on Tuesday.
National police chief Ismail Omar says 79 suspects, held without trial under a security law, were being investigated for their links to the gunmen. It's unclear if they were Malaysians or Filipino nationals.
Ismail said a Filipino gunman was killed early Saturday, raising the death toll to 61.