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At least 132 people were killed in Brazil during a deadly gang raid by Rio de Janeiro police on Tuesday (October 28), the Associated Press reports.
The raid, which was conducted by an estimated 2,500 police officers and soldiers, targeted the Red Command gang in the Complexo de Alemao and Complexo da Penha favelas, with gunfire drawn and other retaliation from the gang members resulting in mass chaos throughout the city. Four policemen were among the reported casualties.
Brazil's state government claimed the people killed were criminals who resisted police, however, the death toll, which was the highest ever in a Rio police operation, led to backlash from human rights groups, the United Nations and other authorities.
Conservative Rio state gov. Claudio Castro called the operation a success and claimed that the city was at war against "narco-terrorism," a term used by President Donald Trump in his crusade against drug smuggling in Latin America. Human Rights Minister Macaé Evaristo rejected the claim, instead claiming the battle with organized crime should target masterminds and financiers.
“There’s no point in coming into our communities and exposing children, the elderly and people with disabilities to such terror,” she said via the Associated Press.
Families of the casualties began burying their loved ones on Thursday (October 30) after bodies were reportedly lined up next to one another a day prior in the Vila Cruzeiro favela.
“I came to work because I have to, but my mental health is shattered,” said Monique Santiliano, 40-year-old who runs a local nail salon in the area, via the Associated Press.
“This wasn’t an operation, these were assassinations. They didn’t come to arrest, they came to kill,” she added with a shaking voice.