Rio de Janeiro: A police raid Tuesday morning in several Rio de Janeiro’s sprawling, low-income neighbourhoods left at least nine dead and six injured, police said in a statement.

The raids targeted areas controlled by the Red Command drug trafficking group and took place in several communities in the city’s north, including Cidade de Deus, and the Alemao and Penha complexes of favelas.

Local residents took to social media to share videos and photos of intense gunfire. Thousands of children were forced to stay home, with public transport and schools shut while the operation was ongoing.

TV broadcaster Globo News showed images of barricades — made of rubber tires, furniture, cars — sometimes set on fire by criminals in an effort to slow down police.

According to Fogo Cruzado, a nonprofit organization that provides real-time reporting of gun violence in Brazil, shots in the Alemao complex were still being reported mid-afternoon. 

(With inputs from agency)

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