Gunmen kill 10 youths in Brazil attack

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Gunmen killed 10 people, mostly teen-agers, living in an abandoned house on Friday in what may have been a retaliatory attack between drug gangs, police said.

The victims, all between 13 and 20 years old, were shot at close range with 9 mm weapons as they lay in their beds, Sao Paulo state police Lt. Col. Nilton Jose Silva said.

''Most of them were shot in the back, one was shot lying face up. But it didn't appear they were sleeping and no one was tied up,'' said Silva.

Witnesses said several men on motorcycles arrived outside the house in Jacarei, a small city 50 miles northeast of Sao Paulo, early Friday morning and entered by jumping over a wall.

Most of the victims had been squatting in the house for some time, and police believed the others were visiting when the attack occurred, Silva said.

One of the victims was a suspect in a pair of drug-related homicides earlier in the year, raising the strong possibility that the killing was a settling of scores between drug gangs, Silva said. Several of the victims had past arrests on drug charges.

No narcotics were found in the house. Silva said there were not yet any suspects.

Jacarei is one of the most violent cities in Sao Paulo state.

In May, eight people were gunned down in the Sao Paulo suburb of Guarulhos, in an attack that was also apparently drug-related.