Gangs Repel Troops in Rio Slum Battle

Drug gangs with automatic weapons repelled 300 soldiers trying to take control of a hillside slum in the first armed resistance to the military’s anti-crime campaign.

The troops were summoned to stop a gunfight between rival gangs Monday in the Cruzeiro Hill shantytown on Rio’s north side, the Jornal do Brasil reported Tuesday.

Soldiers blockaded entrances to the slum and were climbing up its twisting alleyways when traffickers atop the hill fired on them with automatic rifles. Soldiers returned fire but were pinned down by gunfire for nearly half an hour before withdrawing, residents said.