A state police operation targeting a major drug gang in Brazil has resulted in the deaths of 132 people in low-income neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro – the deadliest raid in the country’s history.
Authorities initially said fewer than half that number had been killed in the favelas – the Portuguese term for slum. Protests against excessive police force have since broken out and activists are calling for Rio’s governor to resign over what local people have described as a “slaughter”.
State police said the operation carried out on Tuesday had been planned for months. The “sting” aimed to drive suspects into a forested hillside where special operation units were waiting to ambush them.
The following day, dozens of favela residents gathered in front of the state government headquarters shouting “assassins!” just hours after family members laid dozens of bodies out on a street in one of the targeted areas.
Among thos
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