Thousands of skin-headed gangsters are crammed into El Salvador’s prison of horrors as prison killings climb into the dozens every day

THOUSANDS of skin-headed gangsters are crammed into a horror prison in El Salvador as prison killings climb to dozens a day.

Shocking images show the criminals lined up kneeling with their hands tied behind their backs as police try to stop the bloodshed.

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Rival gangs fighting for dominance make El Salvador’s prisons some of the most violent in the world.

About 16,000 of them are behind bars in Central America, but there has been a spike in killings in recent days.

A state of emergency was declared as it endures a fresh wave of gang violence, with police reporting 87 dead since Friday.

The killings were allegedly ordered by the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs.

The country’s president, Nayib Bukele, has given the gangs an ultimatum, telling them to “stop killing now” or that other prisoners “will also pay for it.”

His tweet was accompanied by footage of a prison raid in which officers dragged half-naked inmates out of their cells, made them walk and searched them in the yard.

Bukele has also ordered a “maximum state of emergency” in all prisons since Sunday.

Detained gang members were subjected to severe measures, including permanent confinement in their cells.

“We confiscated everything, even their sleeping mats, we also rationed their food and now they won’t see the sun anymore,” Bukele said.

The President’s decision drew criticism from former Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Paulo Abrao.

“Criminal populism: illegalities against illegalities. Barbarisms against barbarisms,” he wrote on Twitter.

But Bukele immediately hit back, accusing the organization of fueling gang violence by brokering a truce between the gangs to reduce killings in 2012.

“You at the IACHR were the ones who sponsored the truce, which only strengthened the gangs and allowed them to amass resources, money and weapons,” he said.

The latest crackdown comes after one in 2020 when 22 people were killed in just one day of prison violence.

According to authorities, there are about 70,000 members of the MS-13, Barrio 18 and other gangs in El Salvador, and their operations include murder, extortion and drug trafficking.

MS 13 is also considered one of the most notorious gangs in El Salvador.

Like Barrio 18, the gang originated in Los Angeles and now has a strong influence in Central America.

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