Joint patrols in lawless area

> Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines to share info, coordinate operations

JAKARTA: Warships from Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia held manoeuvres yesterday near a naval base in northern Borneo to mark the launch of coordinated patrols to beef up security in waters plagued by insurgencies and banditry.

Helicopters and surveillance planes flew overhead as ministers and army chiefs from the countries attended ceremonies to launch the patrols and as regional security takes on added urgency after militants overran a town in the southern Philippines.

The Philippine military has said that some of the militants, who were made up of local insurgent groups that have pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS) but also some foreign fighters, may have mingled with evacuees to slip away during the battle for the city of Marawi that has raged for almost four weeks.

“We need to watch out for the 500 to 600 terrorists there, 257 of whom have been killed already. The rest, based on information we are getting, are blending in with refugees to get out,” said Indonesian military chief Gatot Nurmantyo.

The spectacular collapse in security in the southern Philippines has alarmed neighbours such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

Indonesia has deployed three Sukhoi fighters to help with security in case militants try to flee southwards towards Indonesia, the head of the Tarakan air base Colonel Didik Krisyanto told the state news agency Antara at the weekend.

Indonesia yesterday also inaugurated a maritime command centre in the naval base of Tarakan, a town in the province of North Kalimantan, witnessed by defence ministers and army chiefs from the three countries.

Maritime command centres to coordinate the patrols and information sharing will also be set up in Tawau, Sabah and Bongao in the Philippines.

“We see these (command centres) functioning as a triangle, like a spider’s web, where everything inside the triangle will be monitored,” said Nurmantyo.

A port town, Tarakan is just south of the Malaysian side of Borneo and looks out across to Mindanao in southern Philippines, a sprawling island that has suffered from hostage taking and piracy for decades.

“Maintaining marine security is the duty of Asean countries and not other countries,” said Indonesian defence minister Ryamizard Ryacudu. – Reuters