Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced on Tuesday that he has ordered the deployment of 7,000 soldiers and 1,000 police officers to establish a security perimeter in the country's department of Cabanas
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st August, 2023) Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced on Tuesday that he has ordered the deployment of 7,000 soldiers and 1,000 police officers to establish a security perimeter in the country's department of Cabanas.
"Since dawn, 7,000 soldiers and 1,000 policemen have established a security perimeter around the entire department of Cabanas. Their task will be to impede the exit of gang members out of the department, and to cut all the supply routes of the terrorist groups," Bukele said via Twitter.
Bukele noted that the government is waging war on gangs in El Salvador's 14 departments and gang members have moved to Cabanas to hide due to the rural landscape of the area, making it the department with the most terrorist cells.
The president said the perimeter will remain in place until the troops and police successfully remove all individuals related to gangs.
"We will not lift the perimeter until we apprehend all the criminals," Bukele said.
Residents and foreign tourists alike can adhere to their usual normal activities, Bukele added.
At the end of March 2022, the Salvadoran assembly approved a state of emergency to tackle the mounting violence by Central America's largest gang - MS-13. The assembly has extended the measure several times, resulting in the reduction of the number of murders to zero.
More than 60,000 people have been arrested during the state of emergency, according to official data.
