He said he had neither belittled nor insulted the security forces who had given their lives to defend the nation’s sovereignty, but was only highlighting the BN government’s failure to improve its defence assets to prevent such an incident.
He said he had given a picture of the difficulties faced by the security forces in defending Malaysia’s sovereignty because of the previous Sabah government’s failure to address the issue of illegal immigrants.
“The video that went viral should have been played in its entirety,” he said in a statement.
“I vehemently condemn the dirty ploys of certain parties who clearly want to degrade Warisan’s image.
“If the issue of illegal immigrants had been the priority of the previous government, the incident at Kampung Tanduo (in Lahad Datu) would not have happened.
“I want to stress that I had never insulted our security forces who were deployed during the intrusion, as has been distorted by our opponents, particularly parties from the peninsula.”
Mohamaddin, who is contesting the Segama seat, also apologised to members of the security forces if the video caused hurt.
In a 33-minute campaign speech posted on his Facebook, Mohamaddin claimed that security forces had bombed oil palm trees and homes, and that the troops on the ground had gone in to fight with “chickens and dogs”.
“When the election (2013 general election) was over, there was no more war,” he said, adding that during his previous stint as an assemblyman, he had not come across any armed pirates or Filipinos who wanted to declare war or take over Sabah.
He said many people died in the Lahad Datu intrusion because of the “sandiwara” (farce).
His remarks have drawn brickbats, with Sabah Umno leader Abdul Rahman Dahlan urging Warisan president Shafie Apdal to ask Mohamaddin to apologise over his statement.
Parti Cinta Sabah president Anifah Aman also slammed the former minister for his comments, saying it was an insult to security forces and their loved ones.
“Warisan should be ashamed of these disgusting remarks. The people should reject Warisan leaders like these,” he said.
On Feb 11, 2013, some 200 Sulu militants entered Sabah waters and landed in Lahad Datu, leading to a stand-off with Malaysian security forces, which ended with the death of 56 militants, 10 Malaysian security officers and six civilians.
The surviving militants were caught and the conflict was declared ended on April 10, 2013.
Click here for the latest on the Sabah polls