Urging security forces to prioritize safeguarding their lives, those of their companions and of honest citizens, Bukele said: “The use of lethal force is authorized for self-defense or for the defense of the lives of Salvadorans.We urge the opposition to side with honest people, and the institutions they control to stop protecting those who murder our people.”

The country reported 24 murders on Friday, the highest total in a single day since Nayib Bukele took office in June, prompting him to order a 24-hour lockdown in prisons housing gang members.

“We're going to make the gangsters who committed those murders regret their whole lives for making that decision,” he tweeted on Monday.

Some 12,862 gang members are imprisoned in El Salvador, according to prison authorities. (ILKHA)