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Brazilian officials are insisting security won't be a problem for the 2016 Olympics despite drug-gang violence that plunged Rio de Janeiro into a day of bloody chaos just two weeks after it was picked to host the games.
An hours-long fire-fight between rival gangs in one of the city's slums killed at least 12 people, injured six and saw a police helicopter shot down and eight buses set on fire Saturday.
Police said Sunday that they killed two other suspected drug traffickers in overnight clashes near the Morro dos Macacos ("Monkey Hill") slum where the gangs fought for territory a day earlier, but otherwise the area was largely peaceful as 2,000 officers were put on patrol to maintain order.
Two officers died and four were injured Saturday when bullets from the gang battle ripped into their helicopter hovering overhead, forcing it into a fiery crash landing on a soccer field.
Authorities said the violence would only toughen their resolve to improve security ahead of the Olympics and before 2014, when Brazil will host the World Cup soccer tournament with key games in Rio, the country's second-biggest city.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has played down the threat of violence for the Olympics, saying Rio has repeatedly demonstrated it can put on big events without risks to
participants. The Pan-American Games in 2007 were held without major incidents after authorities deployed 15 000 specially trained officers.
