The World - News from June 17, 1988

Civilian killings by the army, guerrillas and death squads in El Salvador rose sharply during the first five months of 1988 compared to last year, a Roman Catholic group said. Tutela Legal, the human rights office of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, released preliminary figures showing that 124 civilians have been killed through May, compared to 156 people for all of 1987. It said that so far this year, the army has killed 41 civilians while rebels of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front have killed 23 and 32 others were killed by land mines and other planted explosives. Suspected right-wing death squads have killed 28 people, the group said.