Tegucigalpa, May 22: Gunmen opened fire in two separate attacks Thursday on the Honduran coast, killing at least 25 people, including six police officers, authorities said.
The first incident took place at a plantation in the municipality of Trujillo in northern Honduras, where at least 19 workers were shot and killed, according to Public Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Yuri Mora.
The resource-rich region has been the site of a decades-long agrarian conflict.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has previously issued precautionary measures to some activists in the region who have been threatened, surveilled and intimidated for their work defending the environment and land rights.
The 2024 killing of environmental leader Juan López highlighted the dangers of defending natural resources in this highly militarised area of Honduras. The Central American nation regularly ranks as one of the most dangerous for environmentalists, with five killed in 2024 and 18 the year before, according to nongovernmental organisation Global Witness.
Three people were recently arrested for masterminding López’s killing, providing a rare glimpse of justice in a country with high rates of impunity.
In the second attack, assailants opened fire on police in the municipality of Omoa in the Cortes department near the Guatemalan border, killing six officers, including a senior officer, police said.
The officers were assigned to an anti-gang mission and were attacked while travelling to Omoa from the capital, Tegucigalpa, police said.
National Police spokesperson Edgardo Barahona said earlier Thursday that determining the death toll in Trujillo was complicated partly because relatives of the victims have removed bodies of their loved ones. Investigators have been sent to the scene, he said.
The National Police and armed forces will respond to both of the areas where attacks took place, and teams including forensic specialists and prosecutors will be formed to investigate, the Security Ministry said.
Honduras has struggled with high rates of crime linked to gangs and the transnational drug trade, although its homicide rate has decreased significantly in recent years since a 2011 peak of 83 murders per 100,000 residents, according to the World Bank.
International human rights organizations have criticized Honduras for its militarized approach to fighting crime, which they say has led to human rights abuses including torture, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
This includes a three-year state of exception to suspend some constitutional rights and grant more power to security forces that ended in January 2026. (AP)
