El Salvador rules street gangs are 'terrorist groups' | World War 4 Report

12.9.15

El Salvador rules street gangs are 'terrorist groups' | World War 4 Report: The ruling comes amid escalating violence. Fourteen Barrio 18 members were strangled or stabbed to death inside Quezaltepeque prison in the west of the country on Aug. 22—part of a growing wave of prison violence througout the region. Authorities said the death orders came from gang leaders in San Francisco Gotera prison in the country's east, in an internal purge of Barrio 18.

At the end of July, gangs paralyzed the capital San Salvador, killing at least nine bus-drivers to enforce a "strike" called to oppose the government crackdown. After the end of the strike, when transit operators got back on the road with increased security, authorities issued at least 300 arrest warrants for gang members accused of "terrorism."