The following are lists of massacres that have occurred in El Salvador (numbers may be approximate). There were some 27 separate documented civilian massacres[1] [2] [3] in the Salvadoran Civil War era alone (1979–1989), in total the war directly claimed 70,000 to 80,000 lives. Additional ongoing violence related to the massacres and their obfuscation has claimed numerous activists, religious leaders, university professors, mayors, and foreigners in the decades following the civil war until the present day.
| Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Matanza | 22 January 1932 – 11 July 1932 | Western El Salvador | 10,000[4] to 40,000 | Led to decline of native Pipil (Nahuat) language and lack of linguistic self-identification due to induced climate of fear | |
| Student massacre of 1975 | 30 July 1975 | National Hospital Rosales, San Salvador | unknown (over 100)[5] | ||
| Cathedral Slope massacre | 8 May 1979 | San Salvador Cathedral, San Salvador | 24[6] | Civil War followed |
| Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sumpul River massacre | 14 May 1980 | Sumpul River near Las Aradas, Chalatenango | 300 to 600[7] | ||
| Lempa River massacre | 15-19 March 1981 | Lempa River, Victoria, Cabañas department | 200 | Mass murder of civilians by Salvadoran and Honduran forces who attempted to flee to Honduras by crossing the Lempa River[8] [9] | |
| Santa Cruz massacre | 11–19 November 1981 | Victoria, Cabañas, Cabañas department | Unknown | The armed forced of El Salvador killed civilians as they deployed scorched earth tactics during an anti-guerrilla military action. [10] | |
| El Mozote massacre | 11 December 1981 | El Mozote, Morazán | up to 900[11] | Carried out by Atlácatl Battalion of the Salvadoran Army | |
| Santa Rita massacre | 17 March 1982 | Santa Rita, Chalatenango | 8[12] | Carried out by Atonal Battalion of the Salvadoran Army, 4 Dutch journalists among those killed | |
| El Calabozo massacre | 21–22 August 1982 | El Calabozo, San Vicente | more than 200[13] | Carried out by Atlácatl Battalion of the Salvadoran Army | |
| 28 February–1 March 1983 | Suchitoto, Cuscatlán | 250 mostly women and children[14] [15] | Carried out by Salvadoran Army | ||
| 1985 Zona Rosa attacks | 19 June 1985 | Zona Rosa, San Salvador | 12-13 | Left-wing guerrillas opened fire on the Zona Rosa nightclub, killing 12-13 people including six Americans.[16] |
| Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Miguelito massacre | 4 November 1996 | San Miguelito, Nahulingo, Sonsonate | 8 | Murder of Vázquez family by unidentified armed men[17] | |
| Mejicanos massacre | 20 June 2010 | Mejicanos, San Salvador | 19 | Committed by members of the 18th Street gang in retaliation for the killing of one of its members by MS-13 the day prior[18] | |
| Altavista massacre | 14 July 2016 | Altavista neighborhood, Ilopango, San Salvador department | 7 | [19] [20] |