Brazilian soldiers fought with drug traffickers in a Rio de Janeiro slum on Monday as they searched for gangsters who had stolen weapons from a military base. The operation was the first deployment of army troops in the violent city in three years. "We came under fire and soldiers had to shoot back," said military spokesman Colonel Fernando Lemos. "Police did most of the shooting, though." No injuries were reported in the battle near the Providencia slum, and Lemos said the situation was under control. The army mission was prompted by the theft of 10 assault rifles by a group of armed men who robbed an army transport unit in north Rio de Janeiro on Friday. The army sent 1,200 troops to back police searching for the weapons. They have occupied several slums. On Sunday night, gunmen from a drug gang threw a bomb at soldiers guarding the entrance to the slum next to the port area of Rio, which was still packed with tourists after last week's Carnival. Rio's powerful drug gangs raid military installations to fill their arsenals for territory wars with rival gangs or battles with security forces. Troops were last sent into Rio during the 2003 Carnival to offer protection after a rise in violence. The government also used the army to safeguard events such as the 2002 elections in Rio, which has one of the world's highest murder rates.
