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Police officers in Rio de Janeiro
Photo: PILAR OLIVARES / REUTERS
Many people lost their lives during a police operation in a slum in the Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro.
Brazilian media such as the news portal »G1« and the newspaper »Folha de S. Paulo« reported at least 22 deaths.
According to the police, twelve of the dead were criminals.
In addition, a resident of Vila Cruzeiro was accidentally hit by a bullet and died.
The nine other dead were therefore not yet identified.
At least five other people were injured.
According to eyewitnesses, there had been violent exchanges of gunfire in the favela in northern Rio on Tuesday from the early hours of the morning.
According to the report, the military police wanted to arrest the heads of the Comando Vermelho (Red Commando) crime syndicate, who are said to have been hiding there.
Thirteen rifles, four pistols, twelve hand grenades and a large quantity of drugs were said to have been seized.
»These bad people want to destroy the future of the people of Rio de Janeiro.
We will not allow anarchy in our state,” Rio governor Cláudio Castro wrote on Twitter.
About a year ago, police officers killed at least 28 suspected members of drug gangs in the Jacarezinho favela in the bloodiest operation in Rio's history.
Powerful gangs fight for control of drug trafficking and protection money deals in the slums.
Many dead in police operations
Police on Tuesday blamed the Supreme Court for allowing more criminals to come to Rio.
He decided to limit police operations in favelas during the corona pandemic.
In no other country in the world do so many people die in police operations as in Brazil.
In 2021, security forces in the South American country killed more than 6,000 people, according to a violence monitor operated by the news portal »G1«, the Brazilian Forum for Public Safety and the University of São Paulo.
wit/dpa/AFP