El Salvador's Bukele deploys military after spike in murders

FILE PHOTO: El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele speaks during a ceremony to lay the first stone of Chivo Vet, a veterinary hospital financed with the gains El Salvador has obtained from its bitcoin operations, in Antiguo Cuscatlan, El Salvador November 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) -Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Thursday deployed the military to patrol streets throughout the country in response to a surge in murders this week.

The military deployment follows more than 30 homicides on Tuesday and Wednesday in the impoverished Central American nation of about 6.5 million people. Average daily homicides had dropped to less than two per day under Bukele, who took office in 2019.