Vice President Buquel has announced that some 10,000 troops have surrounded the El Salvador city of Soypango in a massive crackdown on gangs.
All roads leading to the city have been blocked, and special forces are searching for gang members.
Officers have been stopping and checking IDs of anyone trying to leave the city.
The operation is part of a wider crackdown on gangs following a spike in violence earlier this year.
The Minister of Justice said that 12 people have been arrested so far.
Swaipango is one of the largest cities in El Salvador and is home to over 290,000 people. The city – which sits just 13 kilometers (8 miles) west of the capital San Salvador – has long been known as a hub of gang activity.
“As of this moment, the municipality of Soypango is completely under siege,” President Buquel wrote on Twitter. “Extraction teams from the police and the army have been tasked with taking out all the gang members one by one.”
He added that the general public had “no need to fear” and said the crackdown was “part of an operation against criminals, not against honest citizens”.
Photos released by the government show heavily armed soldiers dressed in body armor and carrying assault rifles out of the city.
A partir de estos momentos, el municipio de Soyapango está totalmente cercado.
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 3, 2022
8,500 soldados y 1,500 agentes han rodeado la ciudad, mientras los equipos de extracción de la policÃa y el ejército se encargan de sacar uno a uno a todos los pandilleros que aún se encuentran ahÃ. pic.twitter.com/9QIpj0ziwX
Guadalupe Perez, a resident, told JEE News that the raid came as a welcome surprise.
“They search you and ask you to confirm your identity papers where you live, but that’s fine – it’s all for our safety,” the 53-year-old said.
Authorities in the country of 6.5 million have jailed more than 58,000 people since Mr Bokel declared a state of emergency in late March.
Rights groups have criticized the harsh nature of the crackdown, saying the measures, which allow police to arrest suspects without warrants, have led to arbitrary detentions.
But allies of Mr Bockel say the crackdown is necessary following a spate of killings after gangs were blamed for 62 killings in a single day on March 26.
A recent poll conducted by the Central American University (UCA) found that 75.9 percent of Salvadorans approve of a state of emergency.
