Fadillah thanked armed forces for unwavering SAR efforts for missing soldier

KUCHING (July 6): Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof has expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) for their unwavering efforts in the search and rescue (SAR) mission for Pvt Muhammad Syafiq Hilmi Abd Halim.

“I want to extend my sincere thanks to the Malaysian Armed Forces and all agencies involved for their collaboration in locating one of our military members who went missing while on duty at the border.

“After nearly 19 days, they successfully found the missing personnel. Thank you also to the army personnel in Brunei for their invaluable assistance,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters when met after officiating at the closing ceremony of the ‘Program Bantuan Lesen Memandu B2 (MyLesen) Peringkat P194 Petra Jaya’ at Dewan Masjid Al-Abyad in Taman Matang Jaya here today.

Muhammad Syafiq, a member of the 7th Battalion of the Border Regiment stationed at Kidurong Camp in Bintulu, had been reported missing since June 18 while participating in Ops Ukur with the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia at the Malaysia-Brunei border in Limbang.

According to a statement from the Malaysian Army, Muhammad Syafiq, 22, was found safe with his equipment and weapon, but weak due to hunger and dehydration at 11.29am today by the SAR team.

He was also reported to have minor injuries on his body when he was found.