Brazil Sends Over 1,000 Soldiers to Favela to Retrieve Stolen Rifles

Brazilian security forces, backed by tanks and helicopters, have carried out an operation to recover stolen weapons from a favela (slum) in Rio de Janeiro, in the Brazilian Southeast.

More than 1,000 soldiers and police officers searched Monday, March 6, for 10 assault rifles and a nine-millimeter pistol stolen from army barracks by a group of armed men on Friday.

A homemade bomb was hurled at soldiers at the entrance of the Providência slum in the early hours of Monday morning. No injuries were reported.

Security officials say police and soldiers exchanged fire with slum residents.

Rio is one of the world’s most violent cities. Its slums are often the scene of gang and drug-related violence that kills hundreds of people each year.

VoA

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