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El Salvador's Bukele deploys military, seeks to boost anti-gang push

Since March, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele orders the arrest of more than 50,000 suspected gang members, whom he calls terrorists, in an attempt to reduce the country's homicide rate.

AFP

Speaking at a graduation ceremony for military officers, Bukele said he would add more than 200 police officers to the 20,000 soldiers already patrolling cities with the remit to take on gang members.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has promised to tighten security around major cities, the latest escalation of an eight-month-old war against gang violence.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony for military officers on Wednesday, Bukele said he would add more than 200 police officers to the 20,000 soldiers already patrolling cities with the remit to take on gang members.

The aim was to "surround large cities and extract the terrorists who are hiding within the communities, without giving them the slightest possibility of escape", he said.

Since March, Bukele has ordered the arrest of more than 50,000 suspected gang members, whom he calls terrorists.

The anti-gang push aims at reducing the Central American country's homicide rate to less than two per day.

'Dramatically' reduced killings

The latest escalation follows congressional backing for a state of exception, which was first approved shortly after 76 Salvadorans died in a single weekend in March.

According to government data, the anti-gang campaign has dramatically reduced killings attributed to gangs, with more than 200 days free of gang-linked deaths so far this year.