Malaysia’s home minister says a curfew will be imposed along its coastline in the eastern state of Sabah as the threat continues from Filipino militants from the country's Muslim south.
On Sunday, Philippine naval patrol boats joined Malaysian forces in searching for gunmen from an al-Qaeda-linked group suspected of killing a police officer and kidnapping another during an attack in Sabah.
The gunmen were suspected members of Abu Sayyaf, whose stronghold - Jolo - lies in the autonomous island archipelago of Sulu, between the Philippines and Malaysia's eastern coast.
Home Minister Zahid Hamidi and Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar announced several key measures in a press conference Wednesday that will take effect over the next 48 hours.
The police general said: "Designated sea routes will be supplemented by a curfew being announced at certain hours to make sure sea routes are not misused."
More than 700 police and army personnel will be deployed to the region to increase security, along with naval vessels and aircraft - especially in areas near the southern Philippines that have been the target of kidnappers.
He added that he aimed to return the kidnapped police officer to his family before the end of Ramadan.
"For his safety, we will not discuss in the open, we will not talk about ransom… We are doing all we can to bring him back to his family before Hari Raya," said Abu Bakar.
In the last four months, three other kidnapping cases have been reported in the region. Three weeks ago when armed men snatched a fish farm operator in Sabah’s east coast town of Kunak. The kidnappers were later reported to be from Sulu.
Malaysia has also asked the Philippines to help it track down five militants believed to be hiding in the second largest and southernmost major island in the southern Philippines, Mindanao.
A report in Malaysia's The Star Online on Sunday said the men are believed to have ties with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and understood to be holed up with the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo.
Premier Najib Razak said in a press conference last week that the vastness of the area surrounding Sabah and its complex society is the main reason why security management organization Eastern Sabah Security Command it had failed to prevent kidnappings in Sabah's waters since its establishment in March 2013.
"The area is huge. The society there is accustomed to entering and leaving the area. In that situation, they do not see national boundaries as a barrier, " he said.
"So we need to cooperate with the locals. Those who own resorts should only hire citizens as staff and set up CCTVs."
The Abu Sayyaf engages in kidnappings for ransom, bombings, assassinations and extortion.
It has been linked to al-Qaeda and is the most violent of the religious separatist groups operating in the southern Philippines. It claims to promote an independent Islamic state in western Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago.
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