Contributed
Four-month-old Rana-Jay Hurd in better times. She was killed along with her parents by gunmen, yesterday morning in Norman Gardens, east Kingston.

A 48-hour curfew was last night imposed in the troubled East Kingston community of Rockfort, where seven persons - including a four-month-old baby girl - were slaughtered in the wee hours of yesterday morning by gunmen.

"During this period, I am expecting the security forces to stabilise the situation and identify the gang leaders and killers," said National Security Minister Derrick Smith, who is insisting that senseless killings must be brought under control.

Drastic measures

In the meantime, Police Commis-sioner Lucius Thomas said he has pulled all the necessary resources together and has put in place some drastic measures to prevent further bloodletting in the community.

"We are doubling up our effort, because we are expecting more reprisals. We are putting the necessary resources together to stop the bloodletting," the commissioner told The Gleaner yesterday.

But he stressed that the security forces alone could not solve the problem.

"No matter what we put in place, if we are not getting the support and help from the citizens, then it will not work," Mr. Thomas said. "I am imploring all the residents to assist the security forces in whatever way you can."

Backed by the top brass of the Major Taskforce Team (MTT) and the CIB headquarters, the east Kingston police have intensified their investigations and were up to last night searching for a number of persons whose names have been linked to yesterday's killings.