El Salvador is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world, with a murder rate exceeded only in nations suffering war/AFP
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, Jul 13 – More than 3,000 people were violently killed in El Salvador in the first half of this year, according to official figures released Tuesday.
The Central American government’s Forensic Medicine Institute said there were 3,058 homicides between January and June, a seven percent increase over the same period last year.
El Salvador is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world, with a murder rate exceeded only in nations suffering war.
The pervasive violence, most of it attributed to vicious gangs, is a prime driver of emigration, to neighboring countries and to the United States.
According to the institute, the bulk of the murders in the first half of 2016 occurred in the early months, followed by a marked decline from April, when the government launched a militarized crackdown on the gangs.
Its data show the overwhelming proportion of murders more than three-quarters of them were committed by firearm.
Smaller numbers of deaths occurred by beatings, knives or machetes, or strangulation.
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