Rio De Janeiro: Brazilian authorities have deployed 35,000 military police in Rio de Janeiro ahead of Sunday's presidential run-off election after a string of attacks on police and clashes between drug gangs.
The state security secretariat said on Saturday it had moved the deployment ahead by 24 hours after a policeman was killed last week in Mangueira, a favela (slum) in the north of the city.
The victim was part of a police unit posted in the community as part of a push to "pacify" Rio's favelas, or wrest them back from the drug traffickers who have controlled them for decades in many cases.
And in the Complexo da Mare favela near the international airport, a war between rival drug gangs has erupted into near-daily clashes in recent weeks despite the presence of 3,000 army troops.
In all, Rio has 253 favelas that are home to more than 1.5 million people, authorities say.
The state security secretariat said on Saturday it had moved the deployment ahead by 24 hours after a policeman was killed last week in Mangueira, a favela (slum) in the north of the city.
The victim was part of a police unit posted in the community as part of a push to "pacify" Rio's favelas, or wrest them back from the drug traffickers who have controlled them for decades in many cases.
And in the Complexo da Mare favela near the international airport, a war between rival drug gangs has erupted into near-daily clashes in recent weeks despite the presence of 3,000 army troops.
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In all, Rio has 253 favelas that are home to more than 1.5 million people, authorities say.
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