Two killed, eight wounded in attacks on Guatemala police

Two policemen were killed and eight wounded in attacks on police across Guatemala Monday night, authorities said, hours after a bloody riot in a juvenile detention centre was put down in the Central American nation. Seven attacks were carried out against police stations and patrol cars in the capital, Guatemala City, while another assault occurred in western Quetzaltenango department, authorities said. The assaults in Guatemala City appeared to have been carried out by the Barrio 18 gang, one of two powerful rival gangs, a police spokesman in the capital said. Seven gang members were detained, the spokesman said. Jailed Barrio 18 gang members rioted and took several guards hostage on Sunday to demand the return of 250 of the gang's members who had recently been transferred to another juvenile detention centre. Authorities freed the guards on Monday and around 45 of those involved in the riots were awaiting charges. Barrio 18 and its rival Mara Salvatrucha control entire city neighbourhoods in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Rising gang violence has made the three countries among the world's deadliest nations outside a war zone in terms of murder rates, UN refugee agency the UNHCR says, driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes every year.