Blockade of the Cabañas Department
The military siege of the Cabañas Department is an ongoing military operation in El Salvador occurring as a part of the Salvadoran gang crackdown. On 1 August 2023, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced that 7,000 soldiers of the Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES) and 1,000 police officers of the National Civil Police (PNC) had surrounded the department (first level subdivision) of Cabañas to capture gang members within the department.

Background 

In March 2022, the Salvadoran government declared a state of emergency following a spike in murders in the country. By August 2023, a total of 72,000 suspected gang members had been arrested.

The siege is the sixth such operation in the country. Previously, in October 2022 Comasagua became the first area to be fenced off by security forces after the murder of a resident. In December 2022, the municipality of Soyapango inside the San Salvador Department was besieged by 8500 soldiers and 1500 police officers during the Siege of Soyapango after the announcement of the fifth phase of Bukele's "Territorial Control Plan". In the same month La Granjita and Tutunichapa were also fenced off to hunt for drug traffickers. In January 2023 a highway in Santa Ana was surrounded by the army after people complained of an increase in crime.Later, in May 2023 the city of Nueva Concepción was encircled by 5000 soldiers and 500 police officers during the Siege of Nueva Concepción to hunt for gang members after the killing of a police officer.
The fifth phase of the Territorial Control Plan entails establishing circles around communities, especially large cities, in order to block the means of escape of gang members and capture them.

Cabañas has a population of over 160,000 people and covers a land area of .

While announcing the beginning of the siege, president Nayib Bukele had claimed that gang members from Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18th Street gang (Barrio 18) had fled to Cabañas for refuge from the crackdown in recent weeks.Later, during the siege, Minister of National Defense, René Merino Monroy stated that the government of El Salvador had intelligence related to gang members fleeing to Cabañas and that the an attack on the National Civil Police (PNC) prompted the government to launch an operation to capture the members.

Siege 

On 30 July 2023, two police officers were injured by an ambush by alleged gang members in Maquilishuat canton of Ilobasco. One of them was seriously injured and both of them were flown to San Salvador. A video of the ambush was uploaded on Twitter by the Salvadoran Minister of Defense René Merino Monroy. The National Civil Police (PNC) reported that an operation to hunt for the attackers was underway.

On 1 August 2023, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele wrote on Twitter that the government had mobilized 7,000 soldiers of the Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES) and 1,000 police officers of the PNC to surround the department (first level subdivision) of Cabañas to capture gang members within the department. In the tweet, Bukele stated that the government's forces will "be to prevent gang members from leaving the area and cut off all supply lines belonging to terrorist groups [the gangs]" and that the operation would continue until "the operatives can extract all gang members". Bukele claimed that gang members from Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18th Street gang (Barrio 18) had fled to Cabañas for refuge from the crackdown.

The siege is the fifth such operation conducted by the Salvadoran government since the beginning of the gang crackdown and the first one to cover an entire department.

On 2 August,3 Mara Salvatrucha members were reported to have been arrested  ,with one of them having a prior history of possesing illegal  firearms, criminal association and sexual harrasment who was accused of arranging firearms and soldiers in the Maquiloshuat canton in Illobasco.A member of  18th Street gang with several tattoos related to gang membership was also arrested in Illobasco while trying to hide inside a septic tank.Later, in the evening,Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, the Director General of the PNC stated that 12 to 15 suspected gang members had been captured. Vehicle checkpoints had been set up on all roads inside the department and all the municipalities within the department were the subject to regular military and police patrols.

At around  midnight,a team of soldiers and police officers  patrolling near the Güiscoyol hill, in Sensuntepeque close to border of Chalatenango were involved in gunfight with a group of alleged gang members which resulted in the death of a high ranking local gangster.Hours after the incident,Monroy and Chicas both arrived at the spot to confirm the incident.Chicas later stated that the killed attacker was the third in command of the local armed MS13 structure and warned that the Salvadoran forces would retaliate with adequate force against criminals trying to attack or resist the army or the police.

On 4 August,elements of the Salvadoran Army and the PNC searched for gang members suspected to hiding  Caserío El Picacho, Cerro La Montaña, Caserío Santa Cruz and Caserío El Salamo, municipality of Sensuntepeque, Cabañas.Communication equipment was delivered to PNC units involved in the siege. 

A 9mm pistol was recovered by the army along with a 22-caliber rifle in the Potrero Cubias canton, San Isidro. Three abandoned  22 caliber rifles were also recovered in the canton of El Jocote, Ciudad Dolores.The weapons were handed over the PNC.The army also tweeted about the capture of a MS-13 member in the Quesera canton of Ilobasco who had previously been deported from the United States in 2019 after an attempted murder.Information about a MS-13 member with a criminal history of aggravated robbery and illegal association who  was held in San Insidro and another who was captured in Barrio El Centro, Tejutepeque, with incriminating evidence ,was also tweeted about. Two members of 18th Street Gang,one of whom had an active arrest warrant for an attempted murder were also detained in San Lorenzo, Sensuntepeque.

On 5 July, La Pagina reported that several gang members were trying to escape from the besieged department to the hilly municipalities  of Nombre de Jesús and San Antonio de La Cruz, inside Chalatenango ,with some even trying to cross over to Honduras.Unmanned aerial vehicle patrols were carried out throughout the department.La Prensa Gráfica reported that 18 suspected gang members had been detained at the police station in  Sensuntepeque including 2 minors and 3 women.Later, 2 heavily armed MS-13 members , aged 33 and 18 were also captured while trying to flee to Chalatenango.One of them was the second in command of the local MS armed group.

On 8 August, the government sources indicated that the blockade had led to the capture of 52 suspected gang members along with  21  firearms, a grenade and an improvised weapon.Later, the Director General of PNC stated that 54 gang members had been captured,including 16 local leaders who were responsible for coordinating criminal activities inside the department and confirmed that 24 M-16 and AK-47 series rifles along with ammunition and grenades , adding that those arrested would be tried together.Two of the gang members who were caught on their way to Chalatenango gave up information leading to arrests of four other gang members.The police chief also confirmed that some gang members had tried to cross over to Honduras, saying that some of them had been caught near the municipalities of Victoria and Dolores in Cabañas, while trying to flee to Honduras. .While talking to Canal 41, Vice Admiral Rene also reported that the siege had led to the arrests of 56 suspected members.He also said that out of the 56 people captured, 26 were from Mara Salvatrucha while 15 of them were from the Barrio-18 , with the rest being general criminals.

On 9 August, the chief of the PNC, Mauricio Arriaza Chicas held a meeting with the senior officers of the PNC and Salvadoran Armed Forces to review the situation in Cabañas.

The Salvadoran government continued to report about the capture of more arms and gang members in the department.On 11 August , the PNC tweeted that a gang member had been killed after firing at an elite unit of PNC in the canton of Río Grande inside Sensuntepeque.

Reactions
The siege was supported by many residents of Cabañas, while the survivors of the Salvadoran Civil War living in the Santa Marta area were unhappy with the heavy deployment of military forces. The Salvadoran organization Foro Nacional de la Salud (FNS) criticized the actions of the government,saying that the siege could lead to anxiety within the local population and restricted their rights,while clarifying that they were not against capturing gang members but could not support any extreme measures..The measures were criticized by Cristocal,a non governmental organization which has been critical of the Salvadoran gang crackdown .

See also 

 Siege of Nueva Concepción
 Siege of Soyapango

References 

2023 in El Salvador
August 2023 events in El Salvador
Organized crime conflicts
MS-13
Gangs in El Salvador
Battles in 2023
August 2023 events in North America
Battles involving El Salvador