The army told the Guardian its special forces battalion – Brazil’s equivalent of the US navy Seals – participated in the operation which left seven dead, but denied they fired the shots. “It’s not a solution.”Violent crime has risen in Rio as a mismanaged and deeply corrupt state government slumped into financial and administrative chaos. “All the support you can imagine.”Like many Rio favelas, Salgueiro hosts outdoor parties, called bailes, where music blasts until dawn. The army denied to O Globo that special forces troops – nicknamed “ghosts” – had taken part in the operation. But on Monday, an army spokesman told the Guardian that special forces battalion soldiers were in one of the armoured vehicles involved.

Source: The Guardian February 27, 2018 08:01 UTC