Masked men hack to death 4 gang members in El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Authorities in El Salvador say men wearing military-style clothing and face masks have hacked to death four suspected street gang members.

Prosecutors and police said Wednesday that the killers were armed with rifles and machetes when they attacked the four alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang.

The four were taken from a funeral service at a home in a rural area in Usulutan province, led away and killed.

There have long been reports of death squad-style killings in El Salvador, where street gangs have been battling police in a wave of violence that pushed the country’s homicide rate last year to 103 killings for every 100,000 residents.