KUALA LUMPUR: Twelve Filipinos and two Malaysian police officers died in a clash on Friday that immediately raised the pressure on dozens of Philippine intruders who are pushing a claim to Malaysian territory.
The followers of the little-known sultan of Sulu have been holed up in a remote corner of Malaysia on Borneo island since February 12, insisting that the area belongs to the self-proclaimed Islamic leader.
The impasse, in which Malaysian police and military units have locked down the rural area, erupted in violence Friday when security forces moved to tighten a cordon around the intruders, police said.
"The intruders fired at us, then we returned fire," Hamza Taib, police chief of the Malaysian state of Sabah, told AFP.
"As a result of the fire, two of my men died, three were injured and 12 intruders died."
The interlopers, who have been variously estimated at between 100 to 300 people, sailed from their remote Philippine islands to press the sultan's claim to Sabah.
They are followers of Jamalul Kiram III, 74, who claims to be the heir to the Islamic Sultanate of Sulu, which once controlled parts of Borneo as well as southern Philippine islands.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose government has been embarrassed by the security breach but has avoided overly tough talk until now, said in the wake of the clash that he told police and armed forces to take whatever action necessary to end the impasse.
"Now there is no grace period for the group to leave," he was quoted as saying by Malaysian media, blaming the intruders for sparking the violence.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino's spokesman also said the incident left a "small window of opportunity to arrive at a peaceful conclusion."
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