Kampung Tanduo, which is nestled in the far end of Felda Sahabat, about 120km from Lahad Datu town, was once an idyllic coastal village.
It was home to 20 families of mostly fishermen and farmers.
However, after the intrusion of Sulu terrorists, followed by ground battles and airstrikes against the Jamalul Kiram III followers who wanted to claim Sabah in March 2013, the scenery of the village changed completely.
Now, Kampung Tanduo is a military camp known as Kampung Tanduo Post, which comes under the coordination of Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom).
Recently, I had the chance to revisit the place with photographer Khairull Azry Bidin, to see how things are in the village.
Escorted by three police officers, led by Esscom Special Team Operations Assistant Chief of Staff Superintendent Hamzah Hashim, we moved from Tanjung Labian in a four-wheel-drive along a 3km rocky and dusty path for more than 30 minutes.
As we entered the village, next to the control post and a row of houses where the security team resided, were two structures which used to be homes to villagers. The houses have since been rehabilitated and turned into a surau and a storage post.
I could see mango, jackfruit and oil palm trees around the village. Near the surau, there was a small gallery to showcase items seized from the Sulu terrorists.
We also visited the three graves where the terrorists buried 16 of their men who were killed in the gunbattle with our security forces.
The first grave contained nine bodies, the second and third three and four bodies, respectively. About 200m from the cemetery, I saw a red flag and was told that it was the site where VAT69 commando Assistant Superintendent Zulkifli Mamat and Sergeant Sabaruddin Daud were killed during the exchange of fire with the enemies at 10am on March 1, 2013.
Nearby, we saw pockmarks left by the bombs dropped by F18 and Hawk fighter-jets from the Royal Malaysian Air Force during the Op Daulat air raids on the village on March 13, 2013.
About 500m away was the house of Ahmad Malandi or Mat Bom, a man in his 70s, who was believed to be an informant to the intruders, along with his son, Mohd Dali or Ali.
Mat Bom was known to be an expert in fish bombing in Felda Sahabat and he was said to be among the founders of the village.
What remained of his house after being bombed by the fighter- jets during the Op Daulat were mere stilts.
I then travelled through a muddy path of about 800m from Kampung Tanduo post, and on arrival, I saw a surau at the beach village. It was the first location where the terrorists assembled after landing here on boats.
Near the structure, there was a boat with paddles, believed to be owned by the Kiram followers.
The boat was initially found at Kampung Tanduo’s river estuary before being moved to this coastal village.
While at the beach, all I could think of was how wonderful this place must have been before.
Now, the seashore is filled with silence as there are no more villagers.