El Salvador Breaks Record with Largest Number of Homicides in One Day

El Salvador Breaks Record with Largest Number of Homicides in One Day SAN SALVADOR – El Salvador reached an all-time high of 43 homicides on Tuesday for the second consecutive day, which police attributed partly to gang wars and their attempt to grab the government’s attention. The murders took place in the backdrop of a resurgence in violence in the country of a little more than 6.5 million people. Between Sunday and Tuesday there were 125 violent deaths. This is also the first time El Salvador has recorded more than 100 murders in three days in its recent history. The daily average in these four days was 41.6 homicides, which is one person killed every hour. According to the Institute of Legal Medicine, or IML, 2015 has witnessed this figure twice. The first was between May 17-19 with 93 violent deaths and the second between May 30 and June 1 with 94. The months of May and June, with 677 and 643 murders respectively, were each listed as the “most violent” month since the end of the Salvadoran civil war in 1992. Security officials say the escalation of murders recorded in recent days is due to the deaths of gang members in armed clashes with the police and army, who on Sunday alone killed 11 gang members in three operations. “A very significant part of the people who died are gang members belonging to these criminal groups killed during exchange of fire,” with security forces and other disputes with rival groups, said Security Minister Benito Lara in an interview with the state channel Wednesday. According to the National Civil Police, or PNC, only last Sunday there were seven shootings between the PNC, army and gangs. PNC deputy director Howard Cotto said it is a “complicated situation” and requires a thorough analysis. According to data provided by the PNC to EFE, between January 2006 and April 2015 33,910 people were killed, of which only 5,495 belonged to gangs, meaning, of the total victims, only 16.20 percent were gang members. According to IML, the number of murders so far in 2015 is 3,603, and “to follow this progression” the year could end with more than 5,000 homicides. The prominent gangs, including District 18 and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) were initially formed on the streets of the United States by Central American immigrants fleeing armed conflicts in the region during the 1980s.