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.
Authorities had already removed gang graffiti in neighbourhoods throughout the Central American country, but breaking up gang members' tombstones is a new step and comes as some residents visited cemeteries for Day of the Dead.
The wave of detentions is unprecedented in the country of 6.5 million people, which has suffered decades of violent crime driven by powerful gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18.
The Environment Ministry warns of a high likelihood of urban flooding, rivers overtopping their banks and the swamping of agricultural land.
Almost 69 percent of detainees are accused of belonging to the notorious Mara Salvatrucha gang, officials say. Rights groups have denounced arbitrary arrest of many people, including minors, with no gang links.
Authorities in Central American country have been rounding up suspected gang members since March, following the killing of 87 people in gang-related violence.
The Central African Republic approves the legal framework for economic use of Bitcoin.
Wave of detentions is unprecedented in the Central American country that has suffered decades of violent crime driven by powerful gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18.
President Nayib Bukele says "war against gangs" will continue, a month after he invoked emergency powers to suspend some constitutional rights to crackdown on gangs engaged in drug trafficking and extortion.
The reform to the penal code applies to those who "reproduce and transmit messages or communications originating or allegedly originating from" the criminal groups.
El Salvador has enacted a state of emergency to fight a new spike in homicides while thousands of Haitians demonstrate against a lack of governmental support to protect their population from gangs.
El Salvadoran lawmakers approve a state of emergency after top gang leaders were arrested over a wave of recent bloodshed, the president of the country's Legislative Assembly said.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel for all latest in-depth, on the ground reporting from around the world.
Copyright © 2022 TRT World.
Like
Follow