El Salvador forces surround town in north after police killing

Salvadoran soldiers stand by a road of Nueva Concepcion after El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced the deployment of more than 5,000 security forces to the area after a policeman was killed in a gang attack, in Nueva Concepcion, El Salvador in this handout distributed to Reuters, May 17, 2023. Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via REUTERS

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - El Salvador has deployed at least 5,000 soldiers and 500 police to surround a town in the northwest of the country in a push to arrest those responsible for the suspected gang killing of a police officer, President Nayib Bukele said on Wednesday.

The officer was killed while on patrol in Nueva Concepcion, some 42 miles (67 km) northwest of the capital on Tuesday in an attack by alleged gang members, security authorities said.