Hospital sources said that the dead and injured were mainly civilians caught up in the violence as troops fanned out across the city hunting an alleged drug kingpin.

Police have officially put the death toll at 27, but Mr Golding warned the figures would rise, and police said there had also been “several murders” in Greater Kingston area. Hospital sources said they had received “about 50” dead bodies and witnesses told of a truck with another 12 corpses on board.

Hundreds of troops and police have been deployed to hunt down Christopher “Dudus” Coke, wanted in the United States on drug-trafficking charges, amid a week-long standoff with his loyal supporters.

Mr Golding vowed the security forces would restore law and order – three days after his government declared a state of emergency amid the worst violence to hit the Caribbean nation in decades.

“The government deeply regrets the loss of lives of members of the security forces, and those of innocent law abiding citizens who were caught in the cross fire,” he told the House of Representatives.

Despite his optimism, the clashes appeared to be spreading after security forces stormed the western seafront slum of Tivoli Gardens earlier this week in their bid to capture Coke, whose extradition order was signed by the government a week ago.

With violence turning some of the city’s slum areas into a war zone, three trucks full of bodies, including a baby, unloaded their grim cargo at a morgue in one of the main hospital complexes.

Mr Golding has ordered two top officials to launch an inquiry into the operation.

Police have detained 211 people, including four women, since the operation began.

Dwight Nelson, the National Security Minister, told a press conference that Coke, 42, had not yet been detained. “Up to the last briefing I got the answer is no,” Mr Nelson said.

Supporters say Coke is a local hero for helping residents pay bills, and even to send children to school. Coke himself says he is merely a businessman.