Around 10,000 troops have surrounded the city of Soyapango in El Salvador as part of a massive crackdown on gangs, President Nayib Bukele has announced. All roads leading to the city have been blocked, and special forces have been searching houses for gang members. Officers have also been stopping everyone attempting to leave the city and checking identity papers. The operation is part of a massive crackdown on gangs after a surge in violence earlier this year. The justice minister said 12 people had been arrested so far. Soyapango is one of El Salvador’s largest cities and is home to more than 290,000 people. The city – which sits just 13 km (8 miles) west of the capital San Salvador – has long been known as a hub for gang activity.

• The people caught up in El Salvador’s gang crackdown

“As of this moment, the municipality of Soyapango is totally surrounded,” President Bukele wrote on Twitter. “Extraction teams from the police and the army are tasked with extricating all the gang members still there one by one.” He added that ordinary people “have nothing to fear” and said that the crackdown was part of “an operation against criminals, not against honest citizens”. Images released by the government showed heavily armed troops clad in body armour and carrying assault rifles outside the city. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter One resident, Guadalupe Perez, told the AFP news agency that the raid had come as a welcome surprise. “They search you and ask for your identity papers to verify where you live, but that’s fine – it’s all for our safety,” the 53-year-old said. Since Mr Bukele announced a state of emergency in late March, more than 58,000 people have been jailed by authorities in the country of 6.5 million people. Rights groups have criticised the heavy handed nature of the crackdown, saying the measures, which allow police to arrest suspects without warrants, have led to arbitrary detentions. But Mr Bukele’s allies say the crackdown is necessary after a wave of homicides culminated with gangs being blamed for 62 murders in a single day on 26 March. https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74992 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76365 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76350 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76345 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74967 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74962 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76325 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76310 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74917 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76604 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76773 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76275 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74906 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74901 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76579 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74887 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76733 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74891 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76564 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76723 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76235 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76713 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76708 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76225 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74992/beIN_SPORTS_South_Korea_vs_Brazil_Live_Stream%F0%9D%9A%81edd https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76365/Reddit_FIFA_World_Cup_2022_StreamS_-_FIFA_World_Cu https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76350/++ESPN_TVshowFIFA_World_Cup_2022_South_Korea_vs_Br https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76345/++RedditStreams_South_Korea_vs_Brazil_Live_StreamR https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74967/RedditStreamS_South_Korea_vs_Brazil_Live_StreamRed https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74962/+LIVESTREAM_TV_FIFA_World_Cup_Brazil_2022_Brazil_v https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76325/OfficialRedditFIFA_World_Cup_South_Korea_vs_Brazil https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76310/CrackstreamsSouth_Korea_vs_Brazil_Live_StreamReddi https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74917/++RedditStreamS_Brazil_vs_South_Korea_Live_StreamR https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76604/RedditStreams_Brazil_vs_South_Korea_Live_StreamRed https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76773/Blacktie_Sports_-_Free_Reddit_South_Korea_vs_Brazi https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76275/++WATCH_%F0%9D%9A%82TREAMING_Brazil_vs_South_Korea_Live_Stre https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74906/JIOCINEMA_Brazil_vs_South_Korea_Free_LIVE_STREAM_1 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74901/FUBO_TV_South_Korea_vs_Brazil_Free_LIVE_STREAM_120 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76579/SLING_TV_Brazil_vs_South_Korea_LIVE_STREAM_120522n https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74887/YOUTUBE_TV_South_Korea_vs_Brazil_Free_LIVE_STREAM_ https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76733/HULU_Brazil_vs_South_Korea_Free_LIVE_STREAM_120522 https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/74891/TOTAL_SPORTEK_Brazil_vs_South_Korea_Free_LIVE_STRE https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76564/Reddit_FIFA_World_Cup_2022_StreamS_-_Brazil_vs_Sou https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76723/South_Korea_vs_Brazil_Live_Stream_Reddit_amp_Crack https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76235/+FREE_STREAMING_Watch_South_Korea_vs_Brazil_Live_S https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76713/%F0%9D%90%8B%F0%9D%90%88%F0%9D%90%95%F0%9D%90%84%F0%9D%90%92%F0%9D%90%93%F0%9D%90%91%F0%9D%90%84%F0%9D%90%80%F0%9D%90%8CTV_Brazil_vs_South_Korea_Live_ https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76708/beIN_SPORTS_Brazil_vs_South_Korea_Live_Streaming_B https://new.c.mi.com/ng/post/76225/+WATCHFREE_Brazil_vs_South_Korea_LiveStream_Online A recent poll taken by the Central American University (UCA) found that 75.9 percent of Salvadorans approved of the state of emergency.