El Salvador sent about 8,000 soldiers and police officers to comb the rural province of Cabañas for street gang members Tuesday, in one of the most massive raids since President Nayib Bukele declared a crackdown on the gangs in March 2022.
About 1,000 police and 7,000 soldiers fanned out across Cabañas province to set up checkpoints on all roads leading in or out. The raid followed a weekend shooting attack on a police patrol vehicle that wounded two officers.
Bukele claims members of the country’s notorious MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs have fled to the province to avoid the crackdown. He refers to the gang members as “terrorists.”
“Cabañas has become the place with the largest number of terrorists, who came seeking to use the rural areas to hide,” Bukele wrote in a tweet. “This massive operation will guarantee greater security for the area, and we will not end it until we find all the criminals.”