Venezuelan troops clamp down on prison after clash

CARACAS, Venezuela – Thousands of National Guard troops are occupying a Venezuelan prison seeking to regain control after gunfights pitting armed inmates against soldiers left at least three dead and 18 wounded.

National Guard Gen. Luis Motta Dominguez says that an inmate was killed in addition to two National Guard troops whose deaths were reported earlier, raising the death toll by one. At least 18 troops were wounded in Friday's clashes.

The violence erupted in the El Rodeo I prison in the Caracas suburb of Guatire as troops were carrying out a search operation to disarm inmates. A riot in the prison last Sunday left 21 inmates and a visitor dead.