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Venezuela: intense gun battles rage in Caracas between gangs and police
Source: Reuters
Venezuela: intense gun battles rage in Caracas between gangs and police
Reuters in Caracas
Thu 8 Jul 2021 20.45 BST
Venezuelan authorities have closed roads in Caracas amid intense raging gun battles between security forces and organized crime gangs that analysts say are trying to expand the territory under their control in the capital.
Heavily armed criminal groups have moved in the past month to residential and commercial areas from slums in the city’s hills, and violence has exploded over the past 24 hours with firefights breaking out in at least five populous neighborhoods.
“State security agencies continue to be deployed in the areas affected by these criminals,” the interior minister, Carmen Meléndez, wrote on Twitter.
She said some highways in the areas were closed as part of the operation, and urged members of the public to stay at home.
President Nicolás Maduro’s government has not mentioned any casualties as a result of the clashes. Human rights activists in the area have said at least four civilians were killed on Wednesday and half a dozen have been wounded.
-snip-
Reuters in Caracas
Thu 8 Jul 2021 20.45 BST
Venezuelan authorities have closed roads in Caracas amid intense raging gun battles between security forces and organized crime gangs that analysts say are trying to expand the territory under their control in the capital.
Heavily armed criminal groups have moved in the past month to residential and commercial areas from slums in the city’s hills, and violence has exploded over the past 24 hours with firefights breaking out in at least five populous neighborhoods.
“State security agencies continue to be deployed in the areas affected by these criminals,” the interior minister, Carmen Meléndez, wrote on Twitter.
She said some highways in the areas were closed as part of the operation, and urged members of the public to stay at home.
President Nicolás Maduro’s government has not mentioned any casualties as a result of the clashes. Human rights activists in the area have said at least four civilians were killed on Wednesday and half a dozen have been wounded.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/08/venezuela-caracas-gun-battles-police-gangs
