Police raid in Rio de Janeiro leaves at least two dead

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -At least two people were killed and eight arrested on Wednesday during a police operation in the Vila Kennedy neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, the state civil police said in a statement.

The operation follows the deadliest police raid in Brazil's history last month - which killed 121 people, including four police officers.

According to local authorities, both operations targeted the Comando Vermelho gang that controls the drug trade in several favelas - poor, densely populated neighborhoods woven through the city's hilly terrain.

"This is another stage of 'Operation Containment' and underscores the fight against Comando Vermelho in its various criminal activities," the civil police said in a statement, adding that a "large amount of drugs" had been found.

Four criminals were wounded during the confrontation with the police in Wednesday's raid, the military police said in a separate statement.

(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes and Isabel TelesEditing by Ros Russell and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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