Some 21 firearms, including Steyr rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition have gone missing from a police camp in Malaysia, the official Bernama news agency said.

The weapons were missing from a camp in Gong Badak just outside Kuala Terengganu, it said.

Terengganu police chief Hussein Ismail said police had received a report of the missing firearms yesterday.

"We are investigating it ... and we are still verifying the stocks," he told Bernama.

Police sources said a guard at the store discovered the break-in during the change of shift.

Bernama said the missing firearms included Browning pistols and Steyr rifles, which are standard issue in the Malaysian military, and more than 500 rounds of ammunitions.

Road blocks set up

Police have launched a search for the missing weapons and set up road blocks along all roads leading out of the state and at the Kelantan-Thailand border, it said.

In July 2000, a group of 15 men in military uniform broke into two army camps in the northern state of Perak.

They took off with more than 100 assault rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers, 5,000 bullets and four hostages.

After being surrounded by the army and police, the group, which belonged to the shadowy Al-Ma'unah Muslim cult, tortured and killed two hostages and finally surrendered after a five-day siege.