A BLOODY police crackdown on alleged drug traffickers in a Rio de Janeiro slum that left 25 people dead was condemned today by residents, activists and the United Nations.
Two hundred officers and a helicopter carrying a sniper were involved in the operation in Jacarezinho, one of the Brazilian city’s biggest slums, which began early Thursday. The police suffered one fatality.
Residents said that officers had killed suspects who were trying to surrender and entered homes without a warrant.
Shortly after the shooting died down today, protesters gathered outside the police headquarters near Jacarezinho to denounce the violence, holding a banner reading: “Stop killing us!”
Reuters Reuters
8 May, 2021, 5:11 am
Policemen aim their weapons during an operation against drug dealers in Jacarezinho slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil May 6, 2021. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -At least 25 people were killed in a shootout between suspected drug traffickers and police in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, one of the state’s deadliest police raids, police said.
People targeted in the raid in the poor Jacarezinho neighborhood tried to escape across rooftops as police arrived in armored vehicles and helicopters flew overhead, television images showed. The firefight forced residents to shelter in their homes.
The victims included one police officer, and the remainder were suspected members of the drug-trafficking gang that dominated life in the slum, including some of its leaders, police said.
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