Honduras announces curfew in two cities after over 20 killed in separate attacks

The Honduran government on Sunday (June 25) announced curfews in two northern cities after over 20 people were killed in separate attacks. Taking to Twitter, President Xiomara Castro announced a 15-day curfew in Choloma between 9 pm and 4 am, effective immediately, and another in San Pedro Sula, effective July 4. "Multiple operations, raids, capture, and checkpoints are initiated," President Castro added.

The president added that the government was offering a cash reward of $32,707 to help and identify those responsible for the killings in Choloma. There has been a partial state of emergency in parts of Honduras since December in a bid to confront violent gangs and turf wars.

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The attacks

On Saturday night, armed men opened fire in a billiards hall in a neighbourhood in Choloma, killing 13 people and seriously injuring one another, the news agency Reuters reported early Monday citing a police spokesperson.

The spokesperson added that at least 11 other murders took place on Saturday in separate episodes across the northern Valle de Sula zone, including in San Pedro Sula.

Additional security being deployed: Minister

Honduras' new Security Minister Gustavo Sanchez said on Sunday that the government would be sending a proposal to the Congress to "classify members of a criminal structure, maras or gangs as terrorists" in the coming days. Speaking to reporters, Security Minister Sanchez said that 1,000 additional police and military were being sent to the Sula Valley, where Choloma and San Pedro Sul are located.

Nearly a week back, members of the notorious Barrio 18 gang killed 46 women inmates at a prison in Tamara town. The gang members killed the inmates by spraying them with gunfire, hacking them with machetes, and then locking survivors in their cells and dousing them with flammable liquid.

President Castro called the killings monstrous, adding the attack was planned by "maras (street gangs) with the knowledge and acquiescence of security authorities.” The government announced that starting from July 21, the Military of Police of Public Order (PMOP) would take control of the country's 21 prisons for a year.

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