The federal prosecutors' office said yesterday the four dead found in San Sebastian township included one minor. Two of the victims had outstanding warrants for homicide charges. In a separate incident, officials said gunmen attacked a police station in the town of Suchitotos. Authorities said police returned fire and killed both men. No police officers were wounded.
Street gangs were once mainly an urban phenomenon in El Salvador, but have spread into rural areas. Warfare between gangs and with the government has pushed the country's homicide rates to civil war levels.