Escalation in El Salvador: Army seals off big city

Created: 04/12/2022, 09:08

El Salvador is fighting gang crime: 10,000 soldiers and police officers have surrounded the city of Soyapango.

© MARVIN RECUNES/afp

Tens of thousands of soldiers and police officers are deployed.

A gigantic action is to ensure security in El Salvador.

San Salvador – Heavily armed units and military vehicles move out after dark.

They patrol the streets, as seen in videos and photos posted on social media.

After a wave of violence, El Salvador (population 6.5 million) is in a state of emergency.

El Salvador: 10,000 soldiers and police surround the city

In the fight against gang crime in the country, around 10,000 soldiers and police officers have surrounded the city of Soyapango near the capital San Salvador.

The city was "completely surrounded," President Nayib Bukele announced on Twitter on Saturday.

A correspondent for the AFP news agency reported that soldiers and police officers armed with assault rifles were searching for gang members in the city.

Military vehicles and police cars drove through the streets, and drones were also in use.

"Ordinary citizens have nothing to fear and can go about their lives normally," wrote the populist head of state on Twitter.

"This is an operation against criminals, not against honest citizens."

El Salvador: Youth gangs control entire neighborhoods

Bukele declared a state of emergency at the end of March after 87 people were murdered in the Central American country within three days.

In November, he announced that entire cities would be cordoned off so that soldiers and police officers could go from house to house looking for gang members.

Soyapango was now the first city in which such a large-scale operation took place.

Youth gangs – the so-called maras – control entire neighborhoods in El Salvador and are involved in racketeering and drug trafficking.

A few years ago, violence between hostile gangs and against the population made El Salvador one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

El Salvador: A police patrol patrols the streets of Soyapango.

© MARVIN RECUNES/afp

El Salvador extended state of emergency until December

Soyapango is one of the largest cities in El Salvador and has long been considered unsafe due to gang violence.

A few months ago, authorities began removing the graffiti the gangs use to mark their areas.

According to Mayor Nercy Montano, “an enormous improvement” in the security situation has already been achieved with the measures taken so far.

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More than 58,000 suspected gang members have been arrested in El Salvador since the state of emergency was declared.

Parliament has extended the state of emergency several times, most recently until mid-December.

Human rights organizations criticize the state of emergency, which, among other things, allows detention without a judge's decision, as a drastic restriction of fundamental rights.