KINGSTON, Jamaica — Security forces fought their way into the warren-like slum stronghold of a gang leader facing extradition to the United States, and sporadic gunfire could be heard late into Monday night.
More than 1,000 police officers and soldiers attacked heavily armed gang members defending the West Kingston base of Christopher “Dudus” Coke, indicted in the U.S. on drug- and arms-trafficking charges.
Military helicopters flying with their lights off could be heard buzzing above the darkened slums, where authorities cut off power.
As security forces broke through barbed-wire barricades to begin their offensive, clashes with masked gunmen spread to other volatile slums close to the capital on Jamaica’s southeastern coast, far from the tourist resorts on the north shore.
It was not immediately clear what was happening inside the virtual fortresses where Coke’s supporters had massed since last week, when Prime Minister Bruce Golding dropped his nine-month stonewalling against extraditing the Jamaican “don,” who has ties to his governing party.
Authorities said two officers had been killed and at least six wounded since Sunday, and at least one Jamaican soldier was shot dead during Monday’s fighting at Tivoli Gardens.
A woman in the besieged slum told Radio Jamaica that she and her terrified family were hunkered down as a firefight raged outside.
“I really pray that somebody will find the love in their heart and stop this right now. It is just too much, my brother,” the woman told the station, the sound of gunfire nearby.
