The corpses were placed near one of the main roads in the Penha Complex
\n RIO DE JANEIRO
\nResidents of a favela in Rio de Janeiro lined up more than 40 bodies at a plaza in their low-income neighborhood on Wednesday, a day after the bloodiest police operation in the city\u2019s history, AFP reported.
\nThe corpses were placed near one of the main roads in the Penha Complex. But there was no official confirmation yet about whether they were among the 60 suspected members of a drug gang who were killed during Tuesday\u2019s massive counter-narcotics operation in two favelas in northern Rio.
\nFour police officers were also slain during the operation, which involved 2,500 officers. It targeted the Comando Vermelho, Rio\u2019s main criminal organization, which operates in the favelas \u2014 densely populated, working-class neighborhoods.
\nAuthorities said that \u201c60 criminals\u201d had been killed in fighting that unfolded during the drug raids in the Penha Complex and the Alemao Complex, located near Rio\u2019s international airport.
\nThe huge number of police officers who took part in the operation were backed by armored vehicles, helicopters and drones, as the streets of the favelas saw war-like scenes.
\nClaudio Castro, the governor of Rio state, accused the criminal gang of using drones to attack police officers during the operation.
\n\u201cThis is how the Rio police are treated by criminals: with bombs dropped by drones. This is the scale of the challenge we face. This is not ordinary crime, but narcoterrorism,\u201d he said in a post on X, where he shared a video from the fighting.
\nAlthough police raids in Rio\u2019s favelas are frequent, with questions about their effectiveness often trailing in their wake, the scale and death toll from Tuesday\u2019s operation left local residents shocked.
\n\u201cThis is the first time we\u2019ve seen drones (from criminals) dropping bombs in the community,\u201d a Penha resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
\n\u201cEveryone is terrified because there\u2019s so much gunfire,\u201d she added.
\nThe Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said it was \u201chorrified\u201d and called for \u201cswift investigations.\u201d
\nLast year, approximately 700 people died during police operations in Rio, almost two a day.
\nThe Human Rights Commission of the Rio State Legislative Assembly would demand \u201cexplanations of the circumstances of the action, which has once again transformed Rio\u2019s favelas into a theater of war and barbarism,\u201d Dani Monteiro, a congresswoman who heads the commission, told AFP on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The corpses were placed near one of the main roads in the Penha Complex RIO DE JANEIRO Residents of a favela in Rio de Janeiro lined up more than 40 bodies at a plaza in their low-income neighborhood on Wednesday, a day after the bloodiest police operation in the city\u2019s history, AFP reported. The corpses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-511498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n