Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Saturday 17 July 1948, page 1


Rebels' H.Q. Raided

In Malaya

-?«

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

SINGAPORE, July 16 -In a bitter dawn battle 14 miles south of Kuala

Lumpur to-day, police killed six terrorists, in-cluding two Malayan Communist leaders.

Five Chinese women, cap-tured by the police in their first attack, died later when they were caught in a cross-fire as the terrorists counter» attacked.

One of the Communist leaders killed was Lau Yew, 30, whom the authorities be-lieve was commander-in-chiet I of the Malayan Communist

terrorists.

He was formerly president of the Malayan People's AntiJapanese Army, which operated in Malaya during the Japanese occupation.

He visited London in 1946 as a member of the Malayan victory contingent and took part in the Victory Parade.

Lau's wife identified his body after the fight.

She herself is now missing.

Another of the terrorists killed was the leader of the Communist rebels in the Johore district.

HEADQUARTERS

Police also captured two

terrorists.

One was a Chinese, and the other an Indonesian Malay, who is believed to be a military instructor in the Malayan People's anti-Japanese Army.

Police believe that the house in which they surprised the terrorists was either the head-quarters of the Selangor branch of the Malayan People's AntiBritish Army, or even the main headquarters of the M.P.A.B.A.

itself.

Twenty police and detec-tives, led by a British officer, W. Stafford, attacked the house at dawn and killed Lau and the leader of the Johore in-surgents, and captured an Indonesian Malay and five

Chinese women.

Six of the police then left to get transport.

While they were away, 30

terrorists armed with Bren

guns, Sten guns, and hand grenades, counter-attacked the house.

The police withdrew uphill, shooting as they went.

Although heavily outnum-bered, the police counter-attacked twice.

REBELS FLEE

The first time they tailed, but the second time the terrorists broke and fled into the jungle, leaving the two original dead as well as the bodies of four other terrorists and of the five women who had been caught in

the cross-fire.

After the fight, police found the hut had been ringed with defensive positions.

The police suffeied no seri-ous casualties, although several were lightly wounded by grenade splinters.

Gurkhas are now sweeping

the area.

Before dawn this morning troops and police cordoned off a rural area outside Singapore and detained 375 persons, mostly Chinese, for screening.

(A.A.P.-Reuter.)

Police and troops of the Malay Regiment to-day killed two terrorists at Bentong, 30 miles north-east of Kuala Lumpur.

At Taiping yesterday, 30 miles north-west of Ipoh, police ar-rested Ishak Bin Ha Mohamed, president of the Malay Nation-alist Party.

This is the first important Malay- arrested since the new emergency powers were intro-

duced.