Police in El Salvador have arrested more than 190 suspected members of an ultra-violent street gang in a major operation outside the capital

BBC News:

The raid on the Mara 18 gang came after a police officer was shot dead by suspected gang members on Tuesday.

The gangs, known as maras, are blamed for many killings and robberies in El Salvador and neighbouring countries.

The maras emerged in Los Angeles in the 1980s and spread to Central America when the US deported their members.

Police swooped on a district known to be a Mara 18 stronghold on Wednesday.

Local media said many of the suspected gang members were picked up as they attended a church service for three Mara 18 members killed on Monday, provoking a protest by the priest.

The raid, the biggest against the gang so far this year, was in response to the killing of a police officer who was shot dead while trying to detain two suspected gang members.

There are believed to be more than 10,000 gang members in El Salvador. In February, several Central American countries signed an agreement to help combat organised crime and tackle the gangs, seen as the main security threat in the region.

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