About 10,000 soldiers and agents have surrounded the town of Soyapango in El Salvador as part of a large-scale operation against criminal gangs. Soyapango is one of the largest cities in the country with almost 300,000 inhabitants.
The city is completely closed off by the security services. All roads leading to the city have been blocked and special forces have searched homes for gang members. Officers also stop anyone trying to leave the city and check IDs.
Wave of violence
The operation is part of a large-scale crackdown by President Nayib Bukele against criminal gangs following a wave of violence earlier this year. Twelve people have been arrested so far. Footage released by the government shows heavily armed troops in body armor.
President Bukele says on Twitter that the municipality of Soyapango is completely surrounded by 8,500 soldiers and 1,500 policemen. He adds that ordinary people “have nothing to fear” and says the crackdown is part of “an operation against criminals, not honest citizens”.
State of emergency
Soyapango is located 13 kilometers west of the capital San Salvador and is known as a hub for gang activity. At the end of March, the government in El Salvador declared a state of emergency after 62 people were murdered by gangs in one day. Since then, more than 58,000 people have been detained by authorities in the country of 6.5 million.
Criticism
Human rights groups have criticized Bukele’s government’s heavy-handed approach, saying police arbitrarily detain suspects and detain them for long periods without trial. However, according to the government, the tough approach is bearing fruit and the number of murders in the first ten months of 2022 would have fallen by 38 percent compared to a year earlier.
El Salvador is a very violent country in Central America where entire neighborhoods are under the control of powerful gangs involved in drug trafficking and extortion. An estimated 70,000 people are gang members.
Los ciudadanos comunes no tienen nada que temer y pueden continuar haciendo su vida normalmente.
Esta es una operación contra los criminales, no contra los ciudadanos honrados.
La #Phase5 del #PlanControlTerritorial ha iniciado. pic.twitter.com/NPp9VWsgA8
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 3, 2022
