Gang fighting continues in Jamaica's capital

Security forces and criminal gangs have continued gun battles in Jamaica's capital for a second-straight day.

The violence in Kingston has left four dead, a police officer, a soldier plus two others and at least 24 injured.

The trouble has forced Kingston Public Hospital to accept only critical cases because the fighting has kept much of the staff away.

Police and soldiers entered the Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town areas before dawn on Saturday in an attempt to quell weeks of gang fighting.

Snipers hidden in buildings fired guns into the streets, killing a police officer and a soldier. Police have not identified the two other victims.

The gang violence in Kingston has left at least 41 people dead in the past two months.

On Saturday, opposition leader Edward Seaga accused the police and army of provoking violence in the area.

The Governing People's National Party denied his charges, saying that the fighting was part of a campaign of violence orchestrated by him to force early elections.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Kingston's gangs were used to rustle up votes for Jamaica's two main political parties.

Although the many gangs now focus on drugs, most have political loyalties and often clash over party affiliations.