LAHAD DATU: The Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) today said it viewed seriously the recent kidnapping of five Indonesian fishermen in Sabah waters.
In a statement today, the ATM said it viewed the incident, which occurred in the waters off Tambisan, Tungku near here on Jan 16, very seriously as it has been carrying out coordinated patrols with its counterparts from Indonesia and the Philippines to strengthen the maritime security along the waters of the Sulu Sea since 2016.
“In fact, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines have set up a maritime control centre for information sharing, intelligence and coordination under the Trilateral Maritime Patrol (TMP) and Trilateral Air Patrol (TAP) initiatives involving ATM, Indonesian National Armed Forces and the Philippines Armed Forces.
“In addition, all that have been agreed by the three countries under the Trilateral Cooperative Arrangement initiative have been implement by Malaysia via the ATM,” it said.
Apart from that, ATM has also been working continuously with various national security agencies including the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom), the Royal Malaysia Police’s Marine Operations Forces (PDRM-PGM) and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) to strengthen maritime security off the Sabah east coast, it said.
On Jan 16, it was reported that the five Indonesian fishermen were taken to southern Philippines by a group of kidnappers linked to the Abu Sayyaf group. - Bernama
