Gunmen carried out two separate attacks on Honduras’ northern coast Thursday, killing at least 25 people, including six police officers, authorities said, reports AP.
The deadliest attack took place at a plantation in Trujillo, where at least 19 workers were shot and killed, according to Public Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Yuri Mora.
The resource-rich region has long been plagued by agrarian conflict and disputes over land and environmental rights. Human rights groups have warned for years about threats, intimidation and violence targeting activists defending land and natural resources.
The 2024 killing of environmental leader Juan López drew international attention to the dangers faced by environmental defenders in Honduras. Advocacy group Global Witness reported that five environmentalists were killed in 2024 and 18 in 2023.
Authorities recently arrested three suspects accused of masterminding López’s killing, a rare development in a country where impunity remains widespread.
In a second attack, gunmen ambushed police officers in Omoa, near the Guatemalan border, killing six officers, including a senior commander, police said.
The officers had been assigned to an anti-gang mission and were traveling from the capital, Tegucigalpa, to Omoa when the attack occurred.
National Police spokesperson Edgardo Barahona said confirming the death toll in Trujillo was difficult because relatives removed some victims’ bodies before investigators arrived.
Honduras’ Security Ministry said police and military forces would be deployed to both attack sites, while forensic specialists and prosecutors investigate the killings.
Honduras has long struggled with gang violence and drug trafficking, although the country’s homicide rate has declined significantly since peaking in 2011, according to the World Bank.
Human rights organizations have criticized the country’s militarized anti-crime policies, saying they have led to abuses including torture, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Critics also pointed to a three-year state of exception that expanded police powers before ending in January 2026.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
