Kingston

The authorities ordered women and children to leave the Tivoli Gardens neighborhood in the capital where a policeman and one civilian were wounded by gunfire in street clashes. Three police stations came under attack.

Police said that gunmen from various communities across the Caribbean country had joined forces with criminal elements in Tivoli Gardens in a bid to protect reputed gang leader, Christopher "Dudus" Coke. 

"It is now clear that criminal elements are determined to launch coordinated attacks on the security forces," police warned in a statement.

With tensions soaring, they added, "all decent and law-abiding residents of Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town are been asked to leave those respective communities immediately".

Residents asked to leave were directed to buses which would take them to a safe location.

Bruce Golding, the prime minister, later promised a tough response to armed gangs fuelling unrest in the capital.

"The criminal element who have placed the society under siege will not be allowed to triumph," he said in an address to the nation.

Washington accuses Shower Posse members, under Coke's direction, of having sold marijuana and crack cocaine in New York and other parts of the United States, funnelling profits back to him.

But for some Kingston residents, Coke is more like a godfather.

Thousands marched through the city Thursday chanting, "Leave Dudus alone, leave Dudus alone."