MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Police operation in Rio de Janeiro favelas leaves 10 killed

At least 45 people have died in various police operations nationwide

A police operation in Rio de Janeiro slums known as favelas aimed at “locating and arresting members of criminal groups” has left 10 people killed, according to local media reports, thus bringing to 45 the number of deaths in similar operations by security forces nationwide in the last six days.

“Eleven suspects were rescued” and taken to a hospital, but “nine of them did not resist” the wounds, it was explained. Authorities had initially reported nine fatalities but added another one in the afternoon.

Criminal gang leaders were expected to convene in the area, according to intelligence information gathered by law enforcement authorities who also said officers “were shot at” by armed individuals, and clashes ensued. Among the dead are two criminal gang leaders while a military policeman was wounded and is in “stable condition.” Seven rifles, ammunition, and grenades were seized.

Federal Justice and Security Minister Flávio Dino said he found the reaction of the security forces “proportional in relation to the crime committed.”

In Bahia, a State governed by the Workers Party (PT) of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, seven suspects were killed in an operation in the town of Camaçari, 50 km north of Salvador. On Sunday, another eight died in a raid in Itatim, 200 km west, and another four died in a Salvador neighborhood.

In 2022, Brazil recorded 6,429 deaths at the hands of the police, according to the NGO Brazilian Public Security Forum. Of these deaths, 1,464 were in Bahia, 1,330 in Rio de Janeiro, and 419 in Sao Paulo. The figure is equivalent to 17 deaths per day and is 1.4 percent lower than the previous year.