(Updates with military raid) By Andrei Khalip RIO DE JANEIRO, May 2 (Reuters) - Soldiers backed by armored cars and a helicopter raided a Rio de Janeiro slum on Wednesday as a top human rights group criticized Brazil's president for his support of sending in troops to fight rampant crime in the city. About 350 soldiers, some armed with machine guns, moved into the Muquico slum on the outskirts of Rio to search for suspects in an attack last month on an army sergeant who lived there. No one was arrested in the operation. The government is due to decide this month whether to deploy troops in the city on a long-term mission. Amnesty International said such a move would undercut the efforts of government officials now working on the problem. It also warned of a "Balkanization" of cities where drug gangs, death squads and paramilitary groups battle in the slums. Military-style police raids have only contributed to the suffering of residents, the London-based organization said. "The cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have come to a tragic impasse. Gangs of criminals ... rush to fill in the void left by the state," Amnesty said in a report. It criticized President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's support of Rio state Gov. Sergio Cabral's bid to deploy army units in Rio for a year. Lula's call for tough measures after a wave of gang attacks and bus torchings in Rio betrayed his own proposals to reform the public security system with a focus on human rights, it said. About 20 people were killed in December, including seven who were burned alive in a bus. "The promises of reform seem to have been long forgotten, criminal violence has evolved, presenting more and more complex problems," Amnesty said. Shootouts between police and drug gangs occur almost daily in Rio, which has an annual murder rate of over 40 per 100,000 people -- one of the highest in Latin America. According to riobodycount.com.br Web site, 828 people have been killed in Rio state since Feb. 1. Official data point to an even higher number with 1,012 murders just in January and February. Amnesty praised Cabral, who took office in January, for his statements calling for public security reforms. But it said his attempt to send in the military and support for police raids and occupation of the vast Alemao slum complex in February and March caused concern. "Police strategy is still characterized by brutal repression. It remains to be seen whether Cabral will have the political will to implement fundamental changes within the police force in the state," it said.
