No fewer than 18 people have been killed following the latest police raid targeting organised crime groups in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, Brazilian police revealed on Friday.
A law enforcement officer, as well as a woman who lived in the area, were among those who died in the Complexo do Alemao slum, while the 16 others are believed to be members of organized crime groups, a police spokesman told a press conference.
Africa Today News, New York reports that about 400 officers were involved in the massive operation, backed up by 10 bullet-proof vehicles and four helicopters.
Their target was a criminal group that had robbed vehicles carrying cargo for banks and other businesses.
Police spokesman Ivan Blaz said the operation’s goal was to stop the “expansionist policy” of criminal gangs in Complexo do Alemao.
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Separately, the Public Defender’s office and the Brazilian Bar Association’s human rights panel informed reporters that 20 individuals, including the officer and the bystander, had been slain in the raids.
President Jair Bolsonaro expressed sorrow on the passing of police officer Bruno de Paula Costa, 38, but made no mention of the other victims.
Speaking to local media, residents of the favela accused security forces of attacking civilians and conducting house raids in the midst of intense exchanges of gunfire between security personnel and alleged criminals.
Some purported videos of the raid posted on social media, which could not be immediately verified by AFP, showed a burst of shots aimed at a police helicopter and barricades set on fire to prevent the passage of security forces.
Police often carry out raids in Rio’s slums in a bid to fight organized crime and drug trafficking.
In May, 22 people were killed, also including a female bystander, in an early morning raid of the Vila Cruzeiro favela.
That came almost a year after Rio’s deadliest police raid, in which 28 people were killed in the Jacarezinho slum.