A Malaysian army commando on a truck moves on the way to joining an assault near the area where a stand-off with Filipino gunmen took place, in Tanduo village, Lahad Datu, Borneo’s Sabab state, Malaysia on March 5, 2013. Photo: AP

FELDA SAHABAT: Malaysian forces have searched houses for armed Filipino invaders who apparently escaped a military assault, as a Philippine guerrilla warned more fighters had arrived.

Malaysia on Tuesday launched an attack with jet fighters and soldiers on up to 300 Filipino invaders to end a bloody three-week standoff. Prime Minister Najib Razak had declared the operation was ‘‘weeding out’’ the holed-up followers of a self-styled Muslim sultan from the Philippines who had come to assert a long-dormant claim to the Malaysian state of Sabah.

“As the intrusion prolonged, it was clear that the intruders had no intention to leave Sabah,” Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Tuesday. “The government must take action to defend the country’s dignity and sovereignty.”

Police moved cautiously in an area slightly larger than New York City’s Central Park to find followers of Jamalul Kiram, a Filipino who asserts he’s the sultan of Sulu. Authorities have yet to release a death toll from Tuesday’s aerial and ground attacks, which came after earlier clashes between Malaysian police and Kiram’s followers killed 31 people.

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