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THE State yesterday vowed to continue its effort to capture Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, recover illegal weapons in Tivoli Gardens and to rout criminal elements across the island.

The pledge came during a press conference at Jamaica House in Kingston where it was confirmed that 26 men have been killed, and 211 people — including two women — detained during the security forces’ operation in Tivoli Gardens that started on Monday to apprehend Coke, who is wanted in the United States on drug- and gun-running charges.

A teenager, who was shot during a gunbattle between armed thugs and the security forces yesterday, is taken from an ambulance at the Kingston Public Hospital. (Photo: Lionel Rookwood) 1/2

The operation, which was also aimed at restoring order to the community that had mounted barricades to prevent the security forces from entering, resulted in gunmen loyal to Coke engaging police and soldiers in fierce clashes.

The majority of the civilians killed are gunmen, Acting Commissioner of Police Glenmore Hinds told the Observer yesterday following the press conference.

A soldier has been killed and seven others injured, National Security Minister Dwight Nelson said.

He said weapons were recovered from the men, some of whom were found dead in ditches and manning barricades leading into Tivoli Gardens.

Approximately 25 civilians have been injured during the operation the press conference was told.

During yesterday’s briefing to update reporters on the joint police/military operation both Nelson, and Information Minister Daryl Vaz said the State will not back down from criminals.

Vaz said that it was now an opportune time to launch an all-out attack on criminals across the island, given the events that unfolded in Tivoli Gardens in West Kingston and other sections of the capital where heavily armed gunmen openly took on members of the security forces, creating mayhem and great unrest.

Said Vaz: “As a result of this operation there have been other criminal activities that have taken place in and around the Corporate Area which transcend political party lines and its strictly criminal elements either joining one another or using it as a distraction — and the fact of the matter is that I can categorically state that the time has come when we have to take the [fight] frontally, without any apologies.

“So therefore, don’t limit it to a matter of an operation in relation to the execution of a warrant. This country is under siege, and the time has come where it is going to be dealt with and this Government is ready to deal with it.”

Since the armed forces commenced the operation in Tivoli on Monday, there have been an upsurge in roadblocks and intense gun battles between criminals and members of the security forces across the capital city, which is more than 100 miles east of the tourist resort city of Montego Bay and on which a limited State of Public Emergency has been imposed.

The Hannah Town Police Station in West Kingston was also torched during the unrest on Sunday and three police officers have been killed while trading bullets with gunmen. On Monday, the Darling Street Police Station, as well as the Coronation Market were set ablaze by gunmen.

Speaking at yesterday’s press conference, Nelson said that the effort to arrest Coke was ongoing.

“The operation continues as we speak. The armed forces are examining each building to ensure that there are no criminals ensconced within and in search of weapons,” said Nelson, who added that a number of weapons, bullet-proof vests and binoculars have been found.

Nelson also said that Political Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair, Public Defender Earl Witter and the Red Cross have been asked to investigate claims by residents in West Kingston that they are being abused by members of the security forces. (A complaint hotline, 946-1248, has been set up.)

Responding to a question at the briefing, ACP Hinds told the Observer that investigations are currently being conducted into the shooting death and injuring of soldiers during Monday’s operation and that murder and gun-related charges may be slapped on Coke, based on the outcome of the probe.

Meanwhile, an appeal was made by Health Minister Ruddy Spencer for gunmen within communities in the vicinity of the Kingston Public Hospital to cease from attacking hospital workers.

A clearing house on the operation in West Kingston has been established at the Hilton Kingston Hotel to provide information to the media, both local and overseas, Vaz said.

AS tension continued to mount in downtown Kingston yesterday, gunmen in St Catherine sought to capitalise on the mayhem, committing several murders in that parish.

Shortly before noon, armed thugs travelling in a white Nissan Sunny motorcar shot dead three men and injured a teenager at a bar and wholesale on Old Harbour Road, near the McCook’s Pen community.

Relatives of the men shot and killed at a bar on Old Harbour Road in St Catherine console each other at the crime scene yesterday. 1/3

The dead men were identified as Peter McDean, 39; Dwayne Murray, 23; and Robert Sankey, 26. The youngster, who was said to be about 14 year old, was shot three times and was taken to the Spanish Town Hospital for treatment.

His condition was not immediately ascertained.

That incident followed the killing of five persons — including a three-month-old child and a woman — in the volatile March Pen Road community about 2:00 am.

Two of the dead men were identified as Errol Miller, 53; and Alvin Stewart, 55.

Residents said the armed thugs ordered their victims out of their homes, set the premises on fire, and then peppered them with bullets.

Police responding to the incident were fired on by gunmen in the community. It was not clear up to yesterday afternoon whether anyone was injured in that firefight.

Police also confirmed that two men were killed in the Braeton and Waterford communities in Portmore yesterday, while two others were gunned down in a section of Central Village called ‘Big Lane’, Monday evening.

Robert Sankey’s cousins — Nastacia Wilson and Laurel Sankey — broke down in tears at his murder scene yesterday.

For the women — who said they were also related to Miller and Stewart — the sight of blood dripping from the establishment’s verandah was too much to bear.

“Is four (relatives) we lose in one week, look pon it; it wicked for us,” mumbled Wilson, who said she had grown tired of crying.

Murray’s sister ‘Chrissy’ cried openly at the crime scene, and lamented the gunmen’s brazenness.

“Them tell them that they were police and they must not move, then them kill them. Them kill me brother,” she cried, as onlookers, about a foot away, consoled the injured teenager’s grieving mother.

THE Government has agreed to consider a suggestion that the limited State of Emergency in the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew be extended to sections of St Catherine.

The suggestion to extend the emergency measures to the neighbouring parish was made yesterday by Opposition parliamentarian Sharon Hay-Webster, who said violence in the nation’s capital, Kingston, had spread to sections of her South Central St Catherine constituency, “where many lives have been lost since Monday night, including three children in drive-by shooting”.

Jamaica Defence Force soldiers provide security for Parliamentarians who met at Gordon House to discuss the current limited State of Public Emergency now in effect for the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew since Sunday night and the impact of the ongoing gun-battle 1/2

The Government on Sunday declared the limited State of Public Emergency for the Corporate Area as it intensified attempts to arrest reputed Tivoli Gardens don, Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke who is wanted by the United States to face drug-and gun-running charges.

The period of emergency is expected to last for one month, unless revoked before.

Members of the army and police have since Sunday been engaged in fierce battles with gunmen who have been trying to prevent the arrest of Coke.

“Is there any consideration of the extension of the boundaries of the State of Emergency to include possibly Portmore and Spanish Town because of the rate of violence that is escalating in those communities? I plead on behalf of the persons affected in those communities,” Hay-Webster said in the House of Representatives yesterday.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in responding, said St Catherine was not considered initially since the focus was on areas of concern, as defined by the intelligence that the security forces had.

“I take note of the events you have referred to. It is a matter, naturally, that we will have to consult with the security forces about, not only in terms of the need, but also in terms of the capacity to maintain the kind of intensity that would be required in an area that is subject to emergency powers, but I certainly will undertake to consult the security forces on the matter,” said the prime minister.

In the meantime, Golding said operations in Tivoli Gardens were being maintained to allow for detailed search for illegal guns and persons who may be wanted by the police for criminal charges.

He also said that during the period of public emergency a concerted effort will be made to go after gunmen in whatever community they may be ensconced.

HE number of civilians confirmed killed in the security force operation in West Kingston has reached 44.

Political Ombudsman Herro Blair, speaking on RJR 94 FM, said that he had counted 35 at the morgue with another nine bodies awaiting collection.

Meantime Public Defender Earl Witter is questioning the disparity between numbers killed and the number of firearms seized. Security forces have so far accounted for four firearms seized.

Witter added that he saw no sign of bodies being burned as alleged by persons claiming to be residents who called media houses during the assault on Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town which began Sunday.

One soldier and seven members of the security forces were injured after security forces entered the West Kingston communities to execute a search warrant for reputed local area don Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

Coke is wanted for extradition to the United States on gun and drug trafficking charges. He is still at large.