Malaysia's Defense Minister Zahid Hamidi shows a picture of the dead members of an armed Filipino group during a news conference at Felda Sahabat in Malaysia's state of Sabah on Borneo island on Wednesday. — Reuters FELDA SAHABAT, Malaysia — Malaysian security forces said they had killed 13 suspected Philippine militants as they expanded their hunt for an elusive armed group on Borneo island on Wednesday, a day after an assault with fighter jets, mortars and hundreds of troops. The nearly month-long confrontation in Sabah state, in Malaysia's part of Borneo, was sparked when the armed group of about 200 sailed from the nearby southern Philippines to press an ancient claim to the resource-rich region. At least 40 people have been killed, including eight Malaysian policemen, raising concerns of broader insecurity ahead of elections in Malaysia. “The total is 13. There could be more,” Malaysian Defense Minister Zahid Hamidi told reporters at a media center set up at a palm oil plantation called Felda Sahabat. Zahid, who produced what he described as pictures of some of the dead militants, said Malaysian forces had suffered no fresh casualties since the assault was launched on Tuesday. Malaysian police warned residents to be on alert for members of the group who had likely escaped into plantations that dominate the coastal area and who could be posing as farmers. Allies of the group in Manila said they had been in telephone contact with Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, the militants' leader and the brother of the self-proclaimed sultan, who said the group had split up to avoid detection. Abraham Idjirani, a spokesman for the group, told Reuters that 10 of the sultan's followers had died, with 10 captured and four wounded. Army trucks carrying dozens of soldiers continued to enter the village of Kampung Tanduo where the group had originally been holed up. A helicopter hovered overhead. Fighter jets bombed the group's camp in the Felda Sahabat plantation early on Tuesday after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said his patience had run out. Philippine officials had urged the group to return home. — Reuters
