The Malaysian army and the US military have kick-started their first joint military exercise at Kampung Tanduo in Sabah to boost security at the exact location that was invaded by Filipino gunmen more than a year ago.

The Malaysia-United States Amphibious Exercise (Malus Amphex) began on Monday with the aim of improving troops’ readiness and amphibious training such as assault and landing, the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur said.

For nine days, the two forces will train in areas including shipboard familiarisation, medical and dental capabilities, weapons familiarisation, amphibious rehearsals with ship-to-shore connectors, live-firing ranges and Rapid Response Planning Process, the embassy added.

… Dr Oh Ei Sun of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies told The Straits Times that the US military presence is generally welcome in the region as a stabilising and balancing force.

“Such an exercise could have a deterrent effect on the armed terrorists,” he said, “lest the terrorists think they are immune from the collective wrath of Malaysia, the Philippines and the US.”