Yahoo News Rio Slum Raided By Troops Ahead Of World Cup
Troops in Brazil have raided one of Rio's largest violence-plagued group of slums in an effort to "pacify" the area ahead of the World Cup.
Around 1,000 soldiers and police, backed by more than a dozen armoured vehicles, entered the vast Mare favela which is seen as a drug-trafficking stronghold and one of the most dangerous places in the city.
The dawn offensive in the poverty-stricken district forms part of a push by the authorities to curb favela violence in the countdown to the tournament which kicks off on June 12.
It follows a series of attacks by drug gangs on police posts in Rio's slums, which has cast fresh doubt on efforts by the authorities to tighten up security less than three months before the arrival of tens of thousands of football fans.
The group of 16 neighbourhoods in the Mare favela, which is home to around 130,000 people and is close to Rio's international airport, are viewed as havens for organised crime.
Police seized "large quantities of drugs and weapons" near the Olympic Village and a public school, the GloboNews chain reported.
The military is expected to start patrolling the area in the coming days.
However, the intelligence services said many drug traffickers left Mare after the imminent raid was announced on Monday and a long-term battle for control was likely.
The city will stage seven matches, including the July 13 final. It will also host the Olympics in 2016.
Rio state secretary for security affairs Jose Mariano Beltrame insisted last week that authorities "are not thinking about the World Cup so much as the citizens of Rio, of police gunned down in cowardly fashion" on the streets.
He said the city's response to the traffickers is "to occupy more territory, to make them lose more territory" and show the state is stronger than the dealers.
Meanwhile, it has been announced another construction worker has died at the Sao Paulo stadium that will host the opening match.
He is the third person to have been killed working on the arena, and the seventh to die building Brazil's World Cup venues.
