El Salvador’s security forces said on Thursday that unidentified gunmen opened fire on the people, who had taken part in the graduation party of a middle-school girl in the Pacific coast town of Acajutla, killing eight people and injuring several others.
El Salvador’s Prosecutor Oscar Torres said the attackers were armed with rifles and pistols.
No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the killing. However, the country’s authorities blame most of the similar fatal attacks on street gangs.
Organized criminal groups with an estimated 60,000 members run drug trafficking and extortion rackets all over El Salvador.
In March 2012, several rival gangs, including Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the Barrio 18, signed a ceasefire deal with El Salvador’s government in an effort to reduce the high murder rates in the poor Central American nation.
The truce, which was backed by the Catholic Church and the Organization of American States, reportedly helped reduce the homicide rate by 40% in 2012, but the murder rate has doubled ever since.
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on TikTok
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on X
