El Salvador forces encircle neighborhoods in gang crackdown

El Salvador’s security forces have intensified their operations against the country’s street gangs with mass arrests, the cordoning off of entire neighborhoods and house-by-house searches under a state of emergency sought by President Nayib Bukele

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- Security forces intensified operations against El Salvador’s street gangs Tuesday with mass arrests, the cordoning off of neighborhoods and house-by-house searches under a state of emergency sought by President Nayib Bukele.

The country’s relatively low homicide rate during Bukele’s administration had been one of his most touted accomplishments. Even while some raised doubts about how it was obtained, the country had been living in peace compared to earlier periods of bloodshed.

That changed last weekend when 89 people were killed in a four-day span, compared to 79 in all of February. The Congress passed Bukele’s state of emergency early Sunday giving authorities broad latitude in making arrests and extending jail time while investigations are carried out.

Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado told state television that in the past two days nearly 1,500 alleged gang members were captured “without firing a single shot.”