Gangs renew Brazil street attacks

Sao Paulo state authorities blame the violence on a criminal gang

Suspected gang members have fired shots at police stations, set fire to buses and bombed buildings in a wave of violence in Brazil's Sao Paulo state.

A police spokesman said four suspects had died in clashes with officers.

The authorities have blamed the attacks on a powerful criminal gang, the First Command of the Capital or PCC, which is controlled by imprisoned gang leaders.

More than 120 people died in two earlier outbreaks of violence allegedly initiated by the PCC, in May and July.

Meanwhile, a row has broken out over the temporary release of some 11,000 prisoners this coming weekend so they can celebrate Father's Day.

The public prosecutor's office in Sao Paulo said some inmates might start working for the gang on the outside, rather than returning to jail.

But Sao Paulo Governor Claudio Lembo defended the releases, which are a traditional privilege for well-behaved prisoners, saying the state should not show fear or a spirit of revenge.

On Monday and Tuesday night, suspected gang members targeted dozens of police stations and government buildings in at least eight cities around the state.

State police commander Col Elizeu Eclair Teixeira Borges, quoted by the Associated Press news agency, said the assailants had used guns, petrol bombs and explosive devices in hit-and-run attacks to avoid police.

Patrols bolstered

In one of the most high-profile incidents, a bomb damaged the entrance to the state justice ministry in Sao Paulo city centre.

Bullets were also fired through the window of a nearby state finance ministry building, Col Borges reported.

He said police patrols had been bolstered overnight in the city, Brazil's financial capital.

When gang violence erupted across Sao Paulo state in May, the authorities said the PCC had been angered by the transfer of its leaders to maximum security prisons.

About 40 police and prison guards were killed. The official number of people shot by police in response stands at 79.