PAS calls on public to remain calm, let authorities investigate Ulu Tiram police station attack

KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — PAS has urged the public to remain calm and allow the authorities to carry out their investigations into this morning’s attack on the Ulu Tiram police station that claimed the lives of two policemen and injured another.

The party’s information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari said PAS would like to convey its condolences to the families of the two policemen who were killed in the incident.

He said the Islamist party also called on the police and related authorities to conduct a thorough probe into the reasons for the attack.

“The current methods for handling security at police stations, which are high-priority areas, also need to be re-evaluated.

“This is especially the case in the early hours of the morning, when a limited number of police personnel are on duty,” he said in a statement issued today.

Ahmad Fadhli, who is also the Pasir Mas MP, said today’s incident was a dark moment in the history of the Royal Malaysia Police.

He said it bore some similarities to an attack on the Batu Pahat police station in 1980 that was carried out by a group of religious deviants.

“The difference this time is that two policemen were killed, compared to the attack on the Batu Pahat police station, which resulted in only injuries,” he said.

Earlier, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain was reported as saying that Islamist terror organisation Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) was behind the deadly attack on the Ulu Tiram police station.

He said that investigators believe the suspect, who was subsequently killed, had planned the attack to raid the police station’s armoury for firearms.

In the attack, constables Ahmad Azza Fahmi Azhar, 21, and Muhamad Syafiq Ahmad Said, 22, were killed by the lone perpetrator in the 2.30am incident.

Another policeman escaped with serious injuries and was admitted to Sultan Ismail Hospital for treatment.

Following the attack, investigators arrested seven individuals with suspected links to JI at a house nearby.

A police manhunt has also been launched for 20 more individuals who are described as Ulu Tiram-based JI operatives.

The JI terror group is a South-east Asian Islamist militant group based in Indonesia, which has dedicated its struggle to forming an Islamic caliphate through violent means.

The group’s operatives were behind the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia.