(EDITOR'S NOTE: Inspector-general of police Ismail Omar later confirmed that five police personnel were killed during the same incident.)

Two police officers were killed in an ambush during a police raid on a village on water in Semporna, Sabah, yesterday, Sabah police commissioner Hamza Taib confirmed today.

He said the police officers were shot at by an unidentified group in Kampung Seri Jaya Siminul at about 6.30pm. This brings the death toll of police officers to four in just as many days.

NONE Hamza did not elaborate on the matter during the telephone interview he had with the TV3 television station on the 'Malaysia Hari Ini' programme.

He said the police were investigating whether the group, believed to be less than 10 in number, had any link to the armed intruders claiming to be from the royal army of the Sulu Sultanate in the Philippines holed up in Kampung Tanduo, 130km from Lahad Datu.

Semporna, which is 150km from Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu, is a coastal town notable for being a stopover site for tourist heading to Sipadan Island, a world-renowned dive site.

Hamza said the Lahad Datu intruders, whose skirmish with the police on Friday resulted in the death of 12 of the intruders and two police commandos, had been cordoned off by security forces.

He also said that the police were in control of the security in Lahad Datu and Sabah, and advised the people in the state not to listen to rumours.

He said they could contact the district police chiefs to verify any information.

- Bernama