War in Rio: drones with explosives and modern weapons, dozens killed

At least 60 people were killed in Rio de Janeiro during the storming of the favela area near the city's international airport, which is considered the headquarters of one of Brazil's most powerful organized crime groups. This is reported by The Guardian newspaper.

More than 2,500 officers and commandos took part in the operation.

"The pre-dawn raid caused intense firefights in the favelas of Aleman and Pena and around them, which are home to about 300,000 people. Drug traffickers from the criminal group "Red Command" began shooting and erecting barricades and setting fire to cars, while civilian and military police and special forces launched an offensive shortly after 4 a.m.," the newspaper writes.

It is noted that for the first time the gang used drones to drop explosives on special forces.

All morning, victims with gunshot wounds were taken to a local hospital, by noon at least 60 people had been killed, including four policemen. Eight more policemen and four residents were injured. As police operations and shootings reportedly continue on Tuesday afternoon, the death toll could rise.

The governor of Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Castro, said that the city was "at war." According to him, this is the largest police operation since the operation in the region in 2010.

"This is no longer an ordinary crime, this is drug terrorism," Castro said in a video posted on social networks.

More than 80 people were arrested, more than 40 automatic rifles were confiscated. These weapons are a sign of the powerful arsenal that the drug traffickers of Rio de Janeiro have acquired since they began flooding the favelas in the late 1980s.