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Police kill at least eight in Rio de Janeiro slum

RIO DE JANEIRO
Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:28pm EDT

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Police killed at least eight people in a raid on drug traffickers in a Rio de Janeiro slum, a spokesman said on Friday, following widespread anger and fear over police brutality in recent weeks.

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Globo news agency reported 10 people were killed.

Police were met with gunfire in the Minha Deusa (My Goddess) favela, or shantytown, a spokeswoman said. Officers seized machineguns, grenades, five stolen cars and drugs.

Earlier this week, a street vendor and a motorist were shot dead in botched police operations in the famed tourist city.

Brazilians were outraged this month when two police officers killed a 3-year-old boy by firing on the car his mother was driving, thinking it was the getaway vehicle of criminals.

The number of suspects killed last year by police rose 25 percent to 1,330.

Governor Sergio Cabral has said his policy of confrontation is needed to counter the heavily armed drug gangs that control the slums.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Writing by Raymond Colitt; Editing by John O'Callaghan)
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