El Salvador a Chaotic Scene of Savagery

Commandos kill 13, including six Americans, in a bold attack

The Zona Rosa section of San Salvador is a popular night spot for foreigners and wealthy Salvadorans. On most evenings the three-block-long strip of discos and sidewalk cafes, with their red-enameled tables and brightly striped umbrellas, offers a festive distraction from the civil war that has racked El Salvador for the past five years. But for one night last week this cheerful stretch became an avenue of death. At about 8:45 p.m., between six and ten gunmen, dressed in jeans, military camouflage shirts and green caps, opened fire on four crowded cafes. In several minutes of shooting, they killed 13 people,...

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