At least 18 people have been killed in clashes between police and gangsters in a slum in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, authorities have said. Guns and grenades were used in the fighting, with armoured vehicles and helicopters backing police units. The violence reportedly began when more than 1,000 policemen advanced on the slum stronghold of a drug-dealing gang. All 18 people killed were suspected gang members, a security official told the Associated Press news agency.
Rio de Janeiro officials are trying to make the city safer before it hosts the Pan-American games on 13 July. Some 5,500 athletes and around 800,000 tourists are expected to visit the city for the games. "We must retake control of the slums and instil public order," state public safety secretary Jose Mariano Beltrame said. "The goal is to put an end to the traffickers' arsenals."
The focus of the police operation was northern Rio de Janeiro's Alemao, or German, slum complex, home to some 100,000 people. Gang members set up barricades and created oil slicks to slow down the police assault. Several schools in the area were closed during the operation, affecting thousands of pupils.