In response to the rampant gang violence plaguing El Salvador for years, Attorney General Luis Martinez has issued around 300 arrest warrants for gang members suspected of what are being called "terrorist acts."

In July gang members put a stop to public transportation when they ordered drivers to go on strike. In order to enforce the strike, the gangs set fire to buses and in the end killed at least seven drivers who would not go along with their demands.

The violence between rival gangs has left El Salvador with one of the highest murder rates in the world. In June there were almost 700 murders.

In 2012 the Mara Salvatrucha and the Barrio 18 gang made a truce and the murder rate dropped by 40 percent. By 2014 the truce was over and the number of the dead rose again. 

Speaking with Al Jazeera, Roderigo Avila, the 2009 presidential candidate for the conservative ARENA Party, insisted the government did not see the actual seriousness of the gang problem, saying that, "What the government has tried has not worked."

There are around 70,000 active gang members in El Salvador. As reported by the BBC, in August, Salvadoran police put the number of people being killed through gang violence at about 24 a day. So far this year 41 police officers, one prosecutor and 14 soldiers have been killed due to gang violence.

Describing the daily carnage, Attorney General Luis Martinez said the gangs had "gone too far, they attack the police and prosecutors, they intimidate the population and force people to leave their homes."

The arrest warrants were, according Martinez, all part of "a new strategy to impose order" to El Salvador. President Ceren has reportedly ruled out any negotiating with gangs.

Visually reporting on the deadly atmosphere in the Central American country, The New York Times has just published a powerful photo essay called "In El Salvador, Gangs Hold on to Power” which shows jailed gang members staring out on to the streets, and victims of gang-related violence wrapped in plastic in a morgue.