The last curfew was imposed during a manhunt for Christopher Coke earlier this year [File: EPA]
Watches this Fresh curfews amid Jamaica unrest
Jamaican authorities have imposed new curfews in the west of the capital, Kingston, after 10 people were killed in gang violence and a shootout with police.
Residents in four neighbourhoods, including the city of Spanish Town, have been ordered to stay in their homes until late on Sunday.
The order applies to Tredegar Park, where police say gang members killed eight people, including an 11-year-old girl, in attacks on two homes early on Friday.
Police then shot dead two suspected gunmen, who they said were known members of the Clansman gang, which is involved in an ongoing bitter turf war with the One Order gang over drugs and arms.
Last year, dozens of Tredegar Park residents fled their homes during gang clashes before soldiers arrived and arrested about 100 people.
A state of public emergency imposed during the manhunt for drug lord Christopher "Dudus" Coke in May was only recently lifted.
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The alleged drug kingpin sparked a mini-war, which left at least 76 people dead, as he tried to elude capture.
Coke, 42, is currently being held in the United States to face charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine and conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms.
US prosecutors describe him as the leader of the "Shower Posse" that murdered hundreds of people during the cocaine wars of the 1980s.
Jamaica is the largest producer of marijuana in the Caribbean region. Gangs tied to the trade have become powerful organised-crime networks involved in international gun smuggling.
The drug trade has also fuelled one of the world's highest murder rates, with Jamaica experiencing about 1,660 homicides last year among a population of just 2.8 million people.
Coppied by http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/08/2010814221723417708.html
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