Brazil: 25 killed in the most deadly raid of police on drug-dealers

At least 25 people have been killed after numbers of heavily armed police raided one of Rio de Janeiro's largest slums, allegedly targeting drug dealers. In the early moments of Thursday morning, local media showed live footage of seven armed young men jumping through the roofs of Jacarezinho favela in the North Zone while bulletproof helicopters hovered over them. According to the report, the "extremely suspicious criminals" tried to escape from the police. A stray bullet hit two passengers in the subway, and one police officer was also killed. On videos and photos shared by residents, grenade explosions were seen, as well as tragic scenes of remains lying in hallways, several bullet holes on residents' doors, blood-stained mattresses and clothing and blood spilt through stairs in the narrow alleys of the favela stream. The Brazilian media widely praised the operation and Rio's civil and federal police force said it was a justified action against drug trafficking and other violent crimes in the community. But human rights activists, residents and public safety specialists were appalled and said the attack could be triggered by other factors.

"Never in my life have I seen a police action so deadly," Bruno Soares, a researcher at Rio's Center for Public Safety and Citizenship Studies.

"The police officer was killed before 09:00 in the morning. This could have affected the number of deaths by invading the police with more force," added Soares, who was born and bred in the Jacarezinho favela.

Soares, who was in the neighbourhood when the operation took place, said it was unlikely that all the people who died during the operation were criminals.

Police have not yet released information on who was killed, but residents said most of the killings did not come from shooting incidents.

"One of the guys asked for cover in my house. When the police arrived, I told them there was someone here, as they would enter anyway. "They went to my daughter's room and shot him immediately, 'said one of favela's residents.