Al Jazeera :
Venezuelan security forces have entered certain areas in the capital, Caracas, seeking to end days of deadly fighting with armed gangs.
No official death toll has been given but local media say a dozen people, including several bystanders, have lost their lives since clashes broke out between gangsters and police in the eastern Caracas neighbourhoods on Wednesday.
After two days of heavy shootings, law enforcement agents managed to get inside “Cota 905” shantytown on Friday morning.
“We control the area but there may still be a few snipers,” an officer told the AFP news agency. The Cota 905 neighbourhood is the main zone of influence of the so-called Koki gang, which faced law enforcement agents with guns several times this year.
Although the leaders of Koki have so far evaded the police siege, the government of President Nicolas Maduro affirmed on Friday that the dismantling of this criminal organisation is under way.
