Malaysian soldiers have launched an assault on armed members of a Filipino clan in an ongoing conflict that has left at least 27 dead on Borneo island. The ground troops are backed by fighter jets, with reports of several explosions near Lahad Datu, where the group of about 180 Filipinos are. The operation to oust the clan began at 07:00 (23:00 GMT on Monday), the Malaysian government said. Seven army battalions were deployed to the area on Monday to reinforce police. Among the aircraft used in the assault were an F-18 and a Hawk fighter aircraft, Malaysian state news agency Bernama reports. Helicopters were also seen flying in the area. Malaysian National Police Chief Ismail Omar said they achieved their targets in the offensive and that there were no troop casualties. He did not provide any details about the Filipinos, who he said fired at the Malaysian troops. But a spokesman for the group told Philippine television the men were safe, Reuters news agency reports. The Filipinos landed at a coastal village in Lahad Datu district on the island of Borneo last month, saying that the territory was theirs. Calling themselves the Royal Army of Sulu, the clan members said they were descendants of the Sultanate of Sulu in the southern Philippines, which ruled parts of northern Borneo for centuries, and demanded that the Malaysian government pay more money to lease their land. Malaysia refused their demands and urged the group to return home. On Monday, the Philippine government appealed to Malaysia to exercise maximum restraint and avoid further bloodshed, and sent Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario to Kuala Lumpur for talks. Officials said he would request that a Philippine navy ship be permitted to sail to Lahad Datu to bring the clan members home. In the capital, Manila, protesters are outside the Malaysian embassy, urging a peaceful resolution to the stand-off, reports say. "We've done everything we could to prevent this, but in the end, Kiram's people chose this path," Philippine presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang said on Tuesday of clan leader Jamalul Kiram III.
