Sabah villagers kill armed MNLF member - report

MANILA, Philippines - A member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was killed by a group of teenagers as he attempted to round up villagers in Kampung Senallang Lama in Lahad Datu, Sabah, a Malaysian online news website reported.

The Star Online report came as Habib Mujahab Hashim, chairman of the MNLF's Islamic Command Council, confirmed on Sunday that the group has sent reinforcements to assist members of the royal army of the Sultanate of Sulu in Lahad Datu.

The Malaysian online news site's report said that the armed man described as a former commander of the MNLF, "knocked on doors ordering the villagers to assemble in one area before marching them to the mosque."

It reported that the MNLF member, armed with an M16 assault rifle and a grenade launcher, was already 60 years old.

The report said that a group of teenagers attacked and killed the MNLF member as he was guiding his hostages to the mosque.

The reported quoted Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib as saying that the slain gunman was involved in a shootout with security forces in Kampung Sri Jaya at the seaside village of Simunul in Semporna.

The Star Online and Bernama, Malaysia's national news website, reported that six Malaysian policemen and six "intruders" from Sulu were killed in the clash in Simunul on Saturday night.

The Sultanate of Sulu on Sunday claimed that five Malaysian officers were killed and four ranking security officials were held captive by Filipino residents of Sabah.

It claimed that the Filipinos attacked an army convoy and a district police headquarters after Malaysian forces killed an Imam and his four sons in Lahad Datu. Read related article: "Sabah uprising"

Abraham Idjirani, spokesperson of the sultanate, said that Malaysian forces suspected that the Imam was harboring Alepiuya Kiram, another brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III.

The royal army number to nearly 300 that landed on Lahad Datu weeks ago was led by Kiram's other brother, Agbimuddin.

At least 12 people were killed in an encounter between Agbimuddin's group and Malaysian forces on Friday.