Police in Rio de Janeiro gave drug traffickers holed up in a hillside slum an ultimatum on Saturday to turn themselves in and help put an end to a wave of urban violence that has killed at least 46 people.
More than 1,000 police and army officers surrounded the shantytown as part of an unusually determined effort by security forces to take control of territory that has long been controlled by drug gangs.
Authorities have cast the battle as part of a larger effort to pacify the city ahead of the Olympic Games in 2016. Drug gangs have fought back by setting fire to around 100 cars and buses and firing on police with automatic weapons.
"There is not the slightest chance traffickers can win in this war in Alemao," head of the military police Sergio Duarte told reporters, referring to the surrounded shantytown.
"We are in position to invade Alemao at any moment. It's better they give themselves in now and bring their weapons while there's still time, because when we invade, it's going to be more difficult," he said.
Duarte did not give a date or time for the offensive.
The suspected traffickers fled to Alemao from the Vila Cruzeiro slum after police invaded it earlier this week and took control. Local media say officers have since found guns and grenades there and a machine to count bank notes from the traffickers' lucrative illegal trade.
Police are now searching vehicles and pedestrians entering Alemao. Gang members inside the slum have opened fire on the security forces to try to ward them off, injuring 10 people on Friday and Saturday, including a Reuters photographer.
Two men were arrested after trying to flee Alemao on Saturday. Police said they were believed to be gang leaders involved in the shooting down of a police helicopter earlier this year.
The latest wave of violence has cast some doubts over whether the city is safe enough to host the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, even though sports authorities have said they trust the government's security measures.
The military police said an area had been designated within the slum, or favela as they are locally known, where the gang members could surrender with their arms placed on their head, and said it was their only option to avoid an offensive.
Basic services disrupted
Beyond the deaths, basic services such as mail delivery and retail were disrupted as workers stayed home out of fear, or because bus companies kept vehicles off the roads for safety reasons. Many schools remained closed on the city's poorer north side, where many slums sit.
Trains connecting the suburbs to the city had 10,000 fewer riders Friday, according to SuperVia, the company operating them.
Bars and restaurants emptied out all over town. The number of customers plunged 60 percent from usual levels, according to a statement by SindRio, which represents eateries and hotels.
Trash collection was suspended in the conflict zone and electricity was still out, the result of damage to cables during clashes between police and gunmen. The waste management company, Comlurb, and Light, which delivers electricity, issued statements saying it wasn't safe for their workers to enter the slums.
While gunfire rattled in Alemao, federal and state police conducted door-to-door searches and patrols in the nearby Vila Cruzeiro slum. That area was seized by officers Thursday during a five-hour operation using armored vehicles and assault rifles.
After police armored cars had their tires blown out by gangs or were stymied by burning tires, police relied on military armored personnel carriers equipped with caterpillar treads to roll over or push aside barriers and enter the fortified shantytown.
Pedestrians applauded as the military convoy rattled through city streets on the way to the Alemao favela, or shantytown, where traffickers took shelter after fleeing from advancing police on Thursday.
Masked men, some dressed in shorts and camouflage T-shirts, defiantly waved their machine guns in the air. Others pointed their guns down the winding roads of the hilly slum, apparently on watch for advancing police officers.
Slideshow 26 photos
A wave of violence in the slums of Rio de Janeiro
Some of them fired shots at a police helicopter patrolling the area, according to a Reuters witness.
"We'll invade Alemao at the right moment. We're depending on information from intelligence services," said Roberto Sa, Rio de Janeiro state's under-secretary of public security.
