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8,500 soldiers sent to Rio to curb street violence

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Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian President Michel Temer ordered Friday 8,500 troops to Rio de Janeiro, in an attempt to curb a surge in violence in the coastal city.


The troops, who will be deployed until the end of the year, are to be assisted by an extra 1,500 police, members of the national guard and other security personnel.


In the first half of the year, over 2,700 people were murdered in Rio de Janeiro, a 10.2 per cent increase in comparison to the same period last year, according to official figures.


Ninety-one police officers have also been killed in Rio since January.


Brazil’s Defence Minister Raul Jungmann said that the city was being hit by a “crime cancer,” which was spreading. “We have 800 favelas which are all existing in a state of emergency,” he said.


Justice Minister Torquato Jardim claims that an increasing number of firearms belonging to Colombian Farc guerilla fighters have started to show up in the Brazilian city.


Those weapons were meant to be handed in to the United Nations as part of a peace pact with the Colombian government. — dpa


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