KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) – Gunfire continues ringing out across some of the most violent slums in Jamaica’s capital as thousands of police and soldiers assault a drug lord’s hideout.
It’s the third straight day of unrest in Kingston, with masked gangsters loyal to gang boss Christopher “Dudus” Coke fighting back by attacking officers and junking cars to block roads.
The heavily armed government forces have been scouring buildings in the battle zone for weapons.
Coke’s supporters began massing there last week after Jamaica’s Prime Minister dropped his opposition to the drug kingpin’s extradition. Coke faces a possible life sentence in the U.S.
His lawyer won’t say whether Coke is barricaded in the slums or is elsewhere in the country.
The number of dead and wounded is unclear. But in Spanish Town, just outside the area where the government has installed a state of emergency, police report that a firefight killed two people, including a little boy.
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