Honduran President declares curfew after mass shooting kills 13

Tegucigalpa, June 26

Honduran President Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento has declared a curfew in the city of Choloma after 13 people were killed during a mass shooting.

In a series of tweets on Sunday, the President said she took the decision in the wake of the "brutal and ruthless terrorist attack" carried out by "hired thugs trained and directed by the drug lords".

The massacre occured on Saturday night after heavily armed men burst into a billiard hall and opened fire while a birthday party was underway, reports Xinhua news agency.

The city is located in the Sula Valley region.

The curfew, which came into force on Sunday, will continue for at least 15 days.

It will be extended to nearby San Pedro Sula -- the country's second-largest city -- on July 4, reports the BBC.

In her tweets, the President said that since the curfew was implemented, there have been "multiple operations, raids, captures", while checkpoints were also set up across the region.

The government has also said 1,000 additional security officers will be sent to the area and is offering a reward of around $33,000 for help identifying and capturing the perpetrators of the Choloma shootings.

A partial state of emergency in areas of the country has been in place since December 2022 as part of efforts to confront violent gangs, with the country struggling to bring escalating warfare and drug crime under control in recent years.

Last week, at least 46 women were killed in gang violence as part of a prison riot near the capital Tegucigalpa.