By Jack Wong

KUCHING, MALAYSIA: Police killed five suspected armed robbers in a gunbattle after a high-speed car chase from Petra Jaya here to Samarahan.

The dead men, who did not have identification documents on them, were believed to be foreigners in their early 30s.

Sarawak Commissioner of Police Deputy Comm Datuk Mohmad Salleh said the five were killed in the shootout with policemen in two patrol cars at 5.55am yesterday.

The policemen returned fire when one of the armed men started shooting after emerging from a Proton Wira Aeroback which was blocked by the patrol cars, he said.

The second suspect, armed with a shotgun, also fired at the policemen while the other three tried to attack them with machetes and a knife.

The car chase began after police failed to stop the Wira Aeroback with a false number plate. DCP Mohmad said the policemen had earlier received a tip-off that a car with four men inside were circling the Semariang area.

The gang's car was forced off the road about 500m from the Samarahan roundabout after the chase which lasted 25 minutes.

DCP Mohmad said that among the items recovered were a home-made revolver, two live bullets, two machetes, a knife, metal cutter, two crowbars, a laptop computer and two mobile phones.

"This gang is believed to be involved in 38 robberies in the Kuching and Samarahan districts since July this year," he told reporters at the state police headquarters in Jalan Bahurddin, adding that other members of the gang were still at large.