Under Siege: State Of Emergency In Jamaica
Andy Winter, Sky News Online
A state of emergency has been declared in Jamaica's capital city after gun and firebomb attacks by supporters of a suspected drug lord facing extradition to the US.
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The situation has become so bad that women and children are being evacuated from Kingston's most dangerous neighbourhoods.
Gunmen have fired at police stations and set one on fire. At least one police officer and a civilian have been injured.
The attackers are reportedly supporters of Christopher "Dudus" Coke, who is widely suspected of controlling gunmen in the impoverished Tivoli Gardens neighbourhood of west Kingston.
The government has called on him to surrender to face a US extradition request on cocaine trafficking and gun-running charges.
Prime minister Bob Golding has vowed a tough response
The west Kingston area - where Coke, 42, is thought to be hiding - has been transformed into a virtual fortress cut off by torched cars and barbed wire.
In barricaded Hannah Town - close to Tivoli Gardens - black smoke spiralled into the sky from a police station set alight by masked men.
Jamaican prime minister Bruce Golding has promised a tough response to the armed gangs.
In an address to the nation, Mr Golding said: "The criminal element who have placed the society under siege will not be allowed to triumph."
US prosecutors have described Coke as the leader of the infamous Shower Posse, which murdered hundreds of people during the cocaine wars of the 1980s.
Shower Posse members have been accused of selling crack cocaine and marijuana in the US, sending profits back to Coke.
Jamaica rejected a 2009 extradition request for Coke, who is loyal to the ruling Jamaica Labour Party and wields influence in the volatile inner city constituency that the prime minister represents.
But tensions have risen over the last week after Mr Golding announced he was starting proceedings to hand Coke over.
A state of emergency has been declared in , the capital of Jamaica, after gunmen besieged and fired at police stations, injuring at least two police officers and a civilian, killing another man. Rioters have erected barricades in the city and one police station was set on fire when it was abandoned after officers ran out of ammunition.

The violence comes after the Jamaican authorities announced that they would extradite , an alleged drug lord, to the United States on drugs and firearms charges. However Coke is seen by members of the impoverished  neighbourhood as a "godfather" like figure, who fulfils roles that the government does not, and his supporters have vowed to protect him, one demonstrator stating "we are willing to die for Dudus".

The Jamaican police accuse the alliance of gunmen from communities across the island state of a desire to "launch coordinated attacks on the security forces" and urged citizens to evacuate the Tivoli Gardens and  areas of the city.

Jamaican Prime Minister  called the attacks "a calculated assault on the authority of the state" and promised that "the criminal element who have placed the society under siege will not be allowed to triumph".