Relatives of police officers caught up in Brazil's soaring levels of violence have protested in Rio de Janeiro hours after the death of an officer during an operation at a nearby shantytown, BBC News reports.

They said officers lacked resources in their fight against the city's criminal organisations. Hundreds gathered along the seafront in Copacabana to demand more support from the authorities and the population.

Ninety-one police officers have been killed in Rio state this year.

That is more than the total of deaths registered in the whole of 2016.

The Brazilian government announced last week it would send an extra 1,000 federal agents to support local police.

Violence has been on the rise in Brazil - and particularly in Rio de Janeiro - since the end of the Olympics and Paralympics nearly a year ago.

Brazil is now going through the worst recession in its history.

The finances of many states, including Rio, have collapsed and there is no prospect of a solution for Brazil's serious political crisis.