PRAIA (Reuters) - Eleven people were shot dead in Cape Verde on Wednesday (April 27) including eight soldiers, a local civilian and two Spanish citizens, state TV and police sources said.

There were no immediate details of the killings but authorities were due to hold a press conference on Wednesday.

Cape Verde's battle against gangs smuggling Latin American cocaine to Europe has led to a series of reprisal shootings, though it was not known whether the killings were drug-related.

The country has worked with Western law enforcement agencies in its fight including the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

Authorities seized 280 kilograms of cocaine earlier this month in a bust in the Atlantic from a Brazil-registered fishing vessel as it prepared to transfer the drugs to a US-flagged yacht.

Cape Verde is an Atlantic archipelago of 500,000 people.