A foreign national was shot dead by police in Kepong after attacking officers with two machetes and severing the right wrist of a 26-year-old lance corporal on Wednesday evening.

Selangor police chief Commissioner Datuk Shazeli Kahar said officers, firefighters and Health Ministry personnel responded around 4pm to reports of an aggressive man behaving unstably at a residential unit in Desa Aman Puri.

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When the door was opened, the suspect charged out armed with two machetes and attacked the team.

The 26-year-old lance corporal from the Gombak District Police Headquarters Mobile Patrol Vehicle unit suffered a severed right wrist along with injuries to his head and body while trying to defend himself.

Several firefighters and medical personnel sustained minor injuries.

The officer was taken first to Selayang Hospital and then transferred to Kuala Lumpur Hospital, where he remains in stable condition and is undergoing surgery in an attempt to reattach his hand.

The suspect fled the scene but was located near a nearby playground between 7.30pm and 8pm.

When officers moved to arrest him, he attacked again with a machete.

Police fired several shots in self-defence.

He was pronounced dead upon arrival at Selayang Hospital.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim condemned the attack, describing violence against enforcement personnel as entirely unacceptable and calling for firm action.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Fadil Marsus later directed officers not to hesitate in using their firearms when facing resistance or threat.