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<DIV id=story_headline><H1>Jamaica boosts security after killings </H1>Reuters | Friday, 26 January 2007
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KINGSTON: Jamaican police cordoned off parts of Montego Bay today and called up extra officers while troops went on alert after a series of murders rattled the Caribbean country's premier tourist city.
Five men were shot to death – one of them also beheaded – in the inner-city section of Flower Hill, north of Montego Bay, while three others were wounded in another attack in the city's southern section of Mount Salem between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, police said.
Jamaican National Security Minister Peter Phillips announced new measures last week to stem bloodshed that threatens to damage Jamaica's vibrant tourism industry. A record 3 million tourists visited the verdant and mountainous Caribbean island last year, generating $2.1 ($NZ3.05) billion in revenues.
The measures, which included the introduction of a mobile police station and the deployment of more police, failed to prevent Wednesday night's killings in the northwest city, which police said were reprisals for the murder a year ago of a soccer player.
Police cordoned off sections of the city on Thursday in search of bandits and guns, and 45 special policemen from a unit called the Mobile Reserve in the capital, Kingston, were dispatched to the area, a police spokesman said.
Soldiers based in Montego Bay were put on alert but ordered not go out on patrol so as not to stir panic among tourists.
There have been 27 murders in the Montego Bay area since the start of the year out of 107 murders countrywide for January.
The birthplace of reggae, Jamaica is a major producer of marijuana and also a significant transit route for Colombian cocaine, making it vulnerable to drug-related violence. Violent gangs, which control sprawling slums, have also traditionally been affiliated with Jamaican political parties. </DIV>
<DIV align=right>Email a Friend | Printable View | Have Your Say</DIV></DIV><DIV id=leftcol_story><DIV id=middlecol_story><DIV id=right_col_heading></DIV></DIV>
KINGSTON: Jamaican police cordoned off parts of Montego Bay today and called up extra officers while troops went on alert after a series of murders rattled the Caribbean country's premier tourist city.
Five men were shot to death – one of them also beheaded – in the inner-city section of Flower Hill, north of Montego Bay, while three others were wounded in another attack in the city's southern section of Mount Salem between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, police said.
Jamaican National Security Minister Peter Phillips announced new measures last week to stem bloodshed that threatens to damage Jamaica's vibrant tourism industry. A record 3 million tourists visited the verdant and mountainous Caribbean island last year, generating $2.1 ($NZ3.05) billion in revenues.
The measures, which included the introduction of a mobile police station and the deployment of more police, failed to prevent Wednesday night's killings in the northwest city, which police said were reprisals for the murder a year ago of a soccer player.
Police cordoned off sections of the city on Thursday in search of bandits and guns, and 45 special policemen from a unit called the Mobile Reserve in the capital, Kingston, were dispatched to the area, a police spokesman said.
Soldiers based in Montego Bay were put on alert but ordered not go out on patrol so as not to stir panic among tourists.
There have been 27 murders in the Montego Bay area since the start of the year out of 107 murders countrywide for January.
The birthplace of reggae, Jamaica is a major producer of marijuana and also a significant transit route for Colombian cocaine, making it vulnerable to drug-related violence. Violent gangs, which control sprawling slums, have also traditionally been affiliated with Jamaican political parties. </DIV>
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