A state police operation targeting a major drug gang in Brazil has resulted in the deaths of 132 people in low-income neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro – the deadliest raid in the country’s history.

Authorities initially said fewer than half that number had been killed in the favelas – the Portuguese term for slum. Protests against excessive police force have since broken out and activists are calling for Rio’s governor to resign over what local people have described as a “slaughter”.

State police said the operation carried out on Tuesday had been planned for months. The “sting” aimed to drive suspects into a forested hillside where special operation units were waiting to ambush them.

The following day, dozens of favela residents gathered in front of the state government headquarters s

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