Rio de Janeiro: The death toll in the police raids on drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro have risen to 119, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Brazillian Police officers. The figure marks a sharp rise from the earlier reported toll of 64.
According to police, the operation was aimed at dismantling the Comando Vermelho, Rio's most powerful criminal organisation. Among those killed were 115 suspected gang members and four police personnel. The raids, involving nearly 2,500 officers, were carried out across the northern neighbourhoods of Penha Complex and Alemao Complex.
Local residents and activists, however, accused the police of summary executions.
"There are people who have been executed, many of them shot in the back of the head, shot in the back. This cannot be considered public safety," said 36-year-old resident and activist Raul Santiago.
However, Rio de Janeiro's state public defender's office has reported the death toll to be around 130.
"The elevated lethality of the operation was expected but not desired," Victor Santos, head of security for Rio state, said at a news conference on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported.
Brazil's Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski stated that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was "horrified" by the high death toll and surprised that such an extensive operation was conducted without prior federal consultation.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also voiced concern over the rising fatalities. "He stresses that the use of force in police operations must adhere to international human rights law and standards, and urges the authorities to undertake a prompt investigation," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
As reported by Al Jazeera, the operation was backed by armoured vehicles, helicopters, and drones. Heavy exchanges of gunfire were reported, with officials claiming that gang members used buses as barricades and deployed explosive-laden drones to attack police forces. "This is not ordinary crime, but narcoterrorism," Rio Governor Claudio Castro posted on X, sharing visuals of the clashes.
Police operations in Rio's favelas are frequent and often deadly. In 2024 alone, nearly 700 people were killed during such raids, averaging almost two deaths per day.
Rights organisations have questioned the timing of the large-scale operation, which comes days ahead of major international events in Brazil. Rio de Janeiro is set to host the C40 World Mayors Summit and Prince William's Earthshot Prize next week, followed by the United Nations COP30 climate summit in Belem from November 10.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and auto-generated from an agency feed.)
