Malaysian police said they killed five suspected criminal gang members in a shootout early on Monday, as they crackdown on a burst of violent crime that has shocked the country.
Police said they launched the nationwide anti-crime push on Saturday, following a growing public outcry over lawlessness that for the past month has seen near-daily shootings and other violence, the vast majority going unsolved.
The Barisan Nasional ruling regime has blamed the chaos on gang members and other criminals released when a tough security law that allowed preventive detention was scrapped in 2011 after pressure from reform advocates.
But police critics blame the national police force, which is widely viewed as corrupt and unprofessional, for failing to keep the peace.
Police said the five gang suspects were killed in an exchange of fire when police moved into their hideout in the northern state of Penang.
Known for its beach resorts, multicultural Penang has seen a recent spate of shootings, some in broad daylight, that authorities have blamed on a gangland turf war.