At least 44 folks have been killed, together with 9 in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, in a weeklong police operation in opposition to felony gangs throughout Brazil.
The Rio raid got here after days of lethal police crackdowns on drug trafficking gangs which have left 16 useless in Sao Paulo state and 19 killed within the northeastern state of Bahia.
Rio state police stated officers had returned fireplace after coming below assault throughout a raid on a gathering of organized crime bosses within the Complexo da Penha group of favelas, on the town’s north facet.
Authorities face mounting requires impartial investigations of alleged police abuses in Brazil, the place the safety forces have been accused of human rights violations of their battle with closely armed drug gangs.
Police stated the Rio operation got here after officers acquired intelligence on a high-level assembly by gang leaders.
“A clash occurred when police teams came under attack by gunmen at the scene,” state police stated in an announcement.
“Eleven suspects were wounded” and brought to the hospital, it stated. “Nine of them died of their injuries.”
Two policemen have been additionally wounded and are in steady situation, it added.
Residents described the favela advanced as a scene from a battle zone in the course of the raid, with locals left cowering inside their properties – principally small shacks packed tightly on the hillsides.
“Businesses are all closed. People can’t leave home to take their kids to school. You just have to take cover in a safe place and wait for the shooting to end,” one resident informed TV Globo, talking on situation of anonymity.
AFP reporters exterior the hospital the place the wounded have been taken described anxious residents ready for news on injured relations, flanked by a heavy police contingent as helicopters hovered overhead.
Police stated makeshift barricades had been arrange throughout the neighborhood to gradual officers’ advance.
They additionally stated that they had seized seven assault rifles, grenades and ammunition within the operation.
The useless included two gang leaders, police stated.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
