2021-05-07 00:05:30 GMT2021-05-07 08:05:30(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
RIO DE JANEIRO, May 6 (Xinhua) At least 25 people were killed and another five injured on Thursday in an intense shootout in northern Rio de Janeiro between police and suspected drug traffickers.
According to the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police, one police officer died as a result of the shootout, while the other 24 people killed were allegedly members of a criminal organization that dominates the Jacarezinho favela.
The event occurred in the early hours of Thursday in Jacarezinho during a Civil Police operation against drug trafficking and organized crime in the area.
A massive police operation against drug traffickers in a Rio de Janeiro favela Thursday left at least 24 suspects and a policeman dead, Brazilian media reports said.
The early-morning raid turned the impoverished neighbourhood of Jacarezinho, on Rio s north side, into a battlefield, with residents posting videos on social media of explosions, heavy gunfire and helicopters hovering overhead.
Large groups of police could be seen streaming into the favela as frightened residents tentatively went about their business once the gunfire died down, AFP correspondents said.
Residentes protest after a police operation against alleged drug traffickers at the Jacarezinho favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 06, 2021. Photo: AFP
The death toll means it was the deadliest police operation in the history, according to investigators.
Residents reported seeing corpses lying on the pavement in pools of blood, and numerous bodies being taken out in an armored police vehicle.
Police said the operation targeted a gang suspected of recruiting children and teenagers for drug trafficking, robberies, assaults and murders.
A massive police operation against drug traffickers in a Brazilian favela on Thursday left 25 people dead, turning the impoverished Rio de Janeiro neighborhood into a battlefield and drawing condemnation from rights groups.
A policeman was among those killed in the early morning raid on Jacarezinho, on Rio s north side, where residents awoke to explosions, heavy gunfire and helicopters overhead.
Rio de Janeiro: Deadly police raid leaves 25 people dead
Rio de Janeiro s deadliest police raid in history left 25 people dead, including one police officer, on Thursday.
A massive police operation against drug traffickers in a Brazilian favela Thursday left 25 people dead, turning the impoverished Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood into a battlefield and drawing condemnation from rights groups.
A policeman was among those killed in the early morning raid on Jacarezinho, on Rio’s north side, where residents awoke to explosions, heavy gunfire and helicopters overhead.
Police confirmed the toll and investigators said it was the deadliest police operation in the history of Rio de Janeiro state.
May 07, 2021 Tatjana Muskiet
The United Nations human rights office has strongly criticised a police raid against suspected drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro, amid allegations of abuse and extrajudicial executions. The deadliest police operation in the city’s history has left 25 dead, including a police officer. Residents say police killed suspects who wanted to surrender and entered homes without a warrant. Police have denied any wrongdoing, saying officers acted in self-defence. Vast areas of Rio de Janeiro, one of Brazil’s most violent cities, are under the control of criminals, many of them linked to powerful drug-trafficking gangs. Security forces are often accused of disproportionate force during their anti-crime operations.Thursday’s raid in Jacarezinho, one of the city’s largest slums known as favelas, was carried out by about 200 police officers and an armoured helicopter with a sniper. The area is controlled by one of Brazil’s