PETALING JAYA (March 7): The Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar and the Chief of the Armed Forces Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin have confirmed 52 people were killed, to date, by the Malaysian security forces defending Sabah against the Sulu terrorists.

Speaking at a live press conference in Lahad Datu today, Ismail said Malaysian forces engaged and managed to kill 31 terrorists including what they suspect to be a high-ranking officer of the invading militants.

"At around 11.30 this morning near Tanjung Batu, Labian, there was an engagement between our security forces and the enemy.

"My ground commander reports that 31 men were shot down and we believe they have been slain.

"From the operation, we have identified that one of those shot holds the rank of 'general'. Now we are tracking down those who are believed to be in the vicinity of Kampung Tanduo and Tanjung Batu, Labian,” said Ismail.

Zulkifeli then added that another invader was also slain this morning near Kampung Tanduo.

"There was also another contact this morning near Kampung Tanduo where a gunman was slain.

"We have surrounded these two areas where we believe they are hiding. We will try to assault them as soon as possible.

"However, by that same token we must also be cautious if we want to avoid further casualties. Thank Allah there are no new casualties among our forces," Zulkifeli said.

"It is better to go slowly because after a few days of combat action, the pressure, the stress might lead to our men being careless or rushing to complete an objective.

"To avoid this, we keep reminding our troops to be careful because we don’t want any more unwanted incidents," Zulkifeli said.

He also pointed out that there could be more enemy casualties but if the bodies were buried, they will still be uncounted for.

When questioned on enemy casualties resulting from the airstrike launched Tuesday morning, Zulkifeli said that the purpose of the strike was to "neutralise the enemy’s threat".

“The strike wasn’t meant to just kill. If it kills the enemies, it will be good but the main reason is to neutralise the enemy so we can move in without any pressure. We were able to do that and other forms of fire were able to neutralise the target objective and our men were able to move in without resistance,” he explained.

When asked about the bodies of those slain, Zulkifeli said that the force were not able to move the bodies at this moment.