Ten killed following police raid

Rio De Janeiro (AP):

Police raided gang-ruled shanty towns and said 10 suspected criminals died in gun battles yesterday, as authorities tried to halt a wave of violence that has rattled rich and poor alike in a city Brazil hopes to make a showplace for the 2016 Olympics.

Police invaded the Vila Cruzeiro and surrounding shanty towns early yesterday, engaging in intense gun battles. Ten men died and one was arrested. Officers seized weapons, including a grenade and an automatic rifle.

A police spokesman said at least four buses and 10 cars were burned in Rio's poorer northern and western areas overnight, bringing the total to 22 attacks and 23 burned vehicles since Sunday. One law-enforcement officer was reported hurt and a civilian was killed while resisting armed robbers.

Schools in violence-struck areas saw low attendance yesterday as worried parents kept children at home. Gangsters armed with assault rifles and grenades used cars to block major thoroughfares, then robbed people snarled in the resulting gridlock and set some cars ablaze, sending black smoke billowing into the sky.