Thousands of soldiers fence off a Salvadoran neighborhood in pursuit of gang remnants

More than 2,000 soldiers and 500 constabulary officers surrounded a dense vicinity connected nan outskirts of El Salvador’s superior successful an effort to quash nan remnants of gangs nan president said were trying to group up shop successful nan area

SAN SALVADOR -- More than 2,000 soldiers and 500 constabulary officers surrounded a populous vicinity connected nan outskirts of El Salvador's superior connected Monday successful an effort to quash nan remnants of gangs nan president said were trying to group up shop successful nan area.

"There is simply a group of pack members successful hiding. We person established a information obstruction passim nan neighborhood... to extract each past pack personnel successful nan area,” wrote Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele successful a station connected X.

Police surrounded nan San Marcos vicinity pinch a subject fence, mounting up checkpoints to forestall pack members from escaping, said Defense Minister René Francis Merino Monroy.

The obstruction was nan 3rd of its benignant to beryllium installed successful parts of San Salvador intended to find and apprehension pack members still operating successful nan country. In March, Bukele ordered akin barricades to beryllium put up successful a bluish portion of nan country, which he said was to dismantle a faction of nan Barrio 18 gang.

The blockade is nan latest successful nan populist leader's warfare connected gangs, announced by Bukele pursuing a surge of unit successful March 2022. Bukele's authorities called for a “state of emergency” and waived law authorities to apprehension much than 1% of El Salvador's organization pinch small evidence.

The crackdown has fueled crisp disapproval from quality authorities groups, raising siren astir situation conditions and saying galore of those arrested were guiltless aliases only had loose ties to gangs. Other measures he's taken, for illustration seeking re-election contempt a law prohibition of presidents serving 2 consecutive terms, person raised different antiauthoritarian alarms.

But nan warfare connected gangs besides dealt a beardown rustle to nan Barrio 18 and MS-13 gangs that person agelong sowed panic successful overmuch of nan country, extorting money, murdering those who didn't salary and trafficking drugs.

The measures resulted successful a crisp dip successful homicides and spurred a populist fervor for Bukele.

Despite efficaciously declaring triumph successful his war, nan president has continued to widen nan ”state of emergency" for complete 2 years now, claiming that specified measures are needed to return retired nan remains of El Salvador's gangs.

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