Manila urges gunmen in Lahad Datu to return home

General Operations Force creating a security ring around Tanduo village where about 100 Filipino armed men are holding out.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Philippines government has urged some 100 Filipino gunmen, currently cornered by Malaysian security forces at a coastal area near Lahad Datu, Sabah to return to their homes and families.

Third Secretary and Vice-Consul of the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Johann Veronica M. Andal, said the Philippine military and police were monitoring and exchanging information with their Malaysian counterparts, in efforts towards an immediate resolution to the incident.

"At the same time, increased patrols and tighter security measures have been put in place in waters off Tawi-Tawi and adjoining islands," she said in a statement Friday.

She said the activity of the Filipino group was not sanctioned by the Philippine government.

On Feb 13, the security forces hauled up a group of armed foreigners clad in military fatigues for encroaching into the waters off Lahad Datu. - Bernama