In the fight against gang crime in El Salvador, around 2,000 soldiers and security forces have surrounded two quarters of the capital, San Salvador.
President Nayib Bukele announced on Twitter yesterday that “more than 1,000 soldiers and 130 police officers” would bring “the remaining criminals” from the “completely surrounded” district of Tutunichapa in San Salvador. In another operation in the Granjita district in the evening, the same number of soldiers were deployed, he said.
“Bastion of Crime”
Footage released by the Presidential Office showed heavily armed soldiers entering Tutunichapa. Defense Minister Rene Merino later wrote on Twitter that more than 20 people had been arrested in the district. Tutunichapa and Granjita are notorious drug hubs.
“All terrorists, drug traffickers and gang members” would be “removed from the area,” President Bukeleund wrote, adding that until recently the neighborhood had been a “bastion of crime.”