-
Flag of Brazil/Archive photograph
At least 22 people have died during a police operation launched this Tuesday morning in The favela of Vila Cruzeiro, in the north of Rio de Janeiro, as reported by the Military Police, which has included among the victims a neighbor who is allegedly not a member of criminal groups.
Security forces were looking for leaders of the Comando Vermelho (Red Command), one of the most active criminal organizations in Brazil. During the operation, around 4:00 (local time), the agents were attacked by gunshots, which triggered an attack. a confrontation that has lasted about twelve hours and in which 21 alleged criminals have lost their lives, reports the G1 portal.
According to the spokesman for the Military Police, Iván Blaz, the Comando Vermelho is the gang responsible for “more than 80 percent of the armed clashes in Rio de Janeiro >” and, in addition, it is immersed in an “expansionist campaign”. of the death of eleven people, including the neighbor who was not involved in crime, the Police that the deployment had not been considered complete. So far, the authorities have identified thirteen bodies and there are still another nine to be identified.
In addition, the authorities have confirmed five injured people, two of them suspects, two other citizens of the area, while the fifth is about a police officer who suffers shrapnel wounds to the face.
Educational authorities in the area have even closed more than a dozen schools as part of the operations as a precautionary measure after the clashes.