Brazilian security forces. (Photo: Dario Oliveira/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
- The attack was launched by more than 20 heavily armed men using 10 vehicles.
- Three people were killed in a shameless attack in the city of Aracatuba.
- Locals in the area were asked not to leave their houses until the explosive trails left by the attackers were discovered and rendered ineffective.
A senior national security official said that armed robbers attacked several banks in a small Brazilian city on Monday, using locals as human shields, leaving traces of explosive devices, and shooting at police, killing at least three people.
The shameless attack at midnight in Aracatuba, a city of approximately 200,000 people in the interior of São Paulo State, is the latest in a series of recent increasingly violent bank robberies in Brazil.
Experts believe that the Covid-19 pandemic welfare program targeting poorer Brazilians encourages robbers to plan bold raids in sleepy cities where bank branches store more cash.
Alvaro Camillo, executive secretary of the Gendarmerie of Sao Paulo, said at a press conference that more than 20 heavily armed men used 10 vehicles to launch the attack. The military police said in a statement that when criminals fled, they used local people as human shields, burned down cars, and left a series of explosive booby traps throughout the city.
The statement said the attackers used drones to monitor the streets as they entered the city, attacked banks, and fled.
Camilo urged people not to leave their homes until the explosives were found and stopped.
Camilo said there were two separate firefights with the police, and three people died. Two of the victims were local residents, and an alleged attacker was also killed.
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The statement said that the two attackers had been arrested. It added that a passerby injured in the explosion was amputated.
Camilo said there were more than 350 police officers in the city who used two helicopters to track the attackers.
He added that the Banco do Brasil SA branch in Aracatuba is a warehouse for cash-which is unknown to state officials.
In late December last year, there were two similar bank raids in Cametá and Criciúma for several days. In both cases, Banco do Brasil branches were targeted.
Camilo said that it is too early to judge that the latest attack is related to other recent attacks.
The history of bank robbery in Brazil has a long history, and major banks have been fighting a wave of violent robberies in recent years.
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