In Jamaica, an off-duty police officer has been shot and wounded by a criminal gang, bringing the number of officers shot to ten in the past ten days.

Four officers were killed in the shootings, including one former police officer.

In the whole of last year, fourteen police officers were shot and killed in Jamaica, and forty-four were wounded.

A spokeswoman for the Jamaican police blamed the rise in violence on a deliberate campaign of intimidation by criminals.

She said the police were clamping down on criminal gangs and were determined to arrest those responsible for the recent outbreak of shootings.