Residents of a Rio de Janeiro community lined up their dead in the street Wednesday after Brazil’s bloodiest police raid killed at least 119 people, spotlighting the city’s controversial war against drug gangs entrenched in poor neighborhoods.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was left horrified by the death toll from the operation, just days before Brazil hosts COP30 global climate talks in the Amazon city of Belem.
While activists and the United Nations raised concerns over the use of force by police, Rio’s state government hailed the operation as a success in its bid to halt the takeover of territory by the powerful Comando Vermelho (Red Command) gang.
The heavily-armed group — which dropped bombs on officers from drones — has taken over large swathes of Rio de Janeiro in recent years, concentrating operations in sprawling favelas that are home to millions of people.
A day after the police operation paralysed the city, residents of the Complexo da Penha favela recovered dozens of bodies from a forest on its outskirts, AFP journalists reported.