SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP):

The governor sent buses with guards to ferry children to school in violence-wracked neighbour-hoods yesterday, but he delayed a decision on whether to call up National Guard troops to help respond to a surge in drug-related violence in Puerto Rico.

Noting a decline in slayings over the last three days, Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila told a press conference he would wait to see if that trend continues before deciding on whether to deploy troops on crime patrols.

Drug traffickers battling each other for control have been blamed for gun battles in the housing projects in Rio Piedras, where the opening of two schools following the Christmas break was delayed a week because of the shootings.

Police say the rivalries have contributed to violence elsewhere in the San Juan metropolitan area in the United States Caribbean territory.

There were 46 homicides in Puerto Rico during the first 15 days of 2007, almost double the number of killings during the same period last year, according to police.

Although children in the Rio Piedras housing projects live close enough to walk to school, parents requested the bus service. Guards were posted inside the schools and on the buses.