At least 18 people were killed Thursday during a major police raid in a dense Rio de Janeiro slum, state military police said, in the latest bloody clash in Brazil’s second-largest city.
Rio de Janeiro civil and military police tactical teams attacked the Alemao complex to take down an alleged criminal organization. The group was suspected of being involved in cargo theft and bank robberies and planning raids on rival slums, military police said in a statement.
At least 18 people were killed in the attack: a police officer, 16 suspected criminals and a woman, police said. About 400 agents, four planes and 10 armored vehicles have participated in the operation.
The uneven death toll fueled fears of rights abuses.
Residents carry a body covered in a white sheet on a cart in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 21, 2022.AP
“There are indications of serious violations of human rights, and the possibility that this is one of the operations with the most deaths in Rio de Janeiro,” the State Public Defense said in a statement.
Military police declined to comment beyond their statement.
Rio state police forces regularly carry out deadly raids on the city’s slums. President Jair Bolsonaro is backing heavy-handed police tactics in their fight against organized crime and has said gangsters should “die like cockroaches”.
A police officer walks during an operation against drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 21, 2022. REUTERS
After the attack, locals could be seen herding injured people into the back of vehicles to be taken to hospital as police watched. Gilberto Santiago Lopes of the Anacrim Human Rights Commission said the police refused to help.
“We had to take them in a drinks truck and then flag down a local resident in his car to take them to the hospital,” he said. “(The police) don’t aim to arrest them, they aim to kill them, so if they’re hurt, they don’t think they deserve help.”
Residents stand next to dead bodies during a police operation against drug gangs in the Alemao slum complex July 21, 2022. REUTERS
The neighbors were furious and called the police.
“We are afraid to live here,” a local shouted after the attack. “Where are we? Afghanistan? In a war? In Iraq? If they want a war, send them to Iraq.”