Unstoppable violence in Honduras leaves 65 victims in 13 massacres during 2026

Multiple violence continues to hit Honduras hard. In just the first five months of 2026, the country already registers at least 13 massacres that have left more than 65 people murdered in different departments, evidencing a growing security crisis that maintains national and international concern.

The data collected by Proceso Digital and other national media outlets reflect that the violent events have been recorded in Yoro, Atlántida, Lempira, El Paraíso, Olancho, Valle, Cortés, Francisco Morazán and Colón, departments where the authorities have recognized the presence of criminal structures linked to drug trafficking, gangs and armed groups.

The department of Yoro tops the list with three multiple homicides recorded so far this year. Among them, the massacres that occurred in Olanchito, El Progreso and Sulaco stand out. Human rights organizations warn about the increase in multiple homicides and the fear they generate among the Honduran population. According to preliminary reports, several of these violent actions would be related to disputes between criminal gangs such as “La Kleivona” and the so-called “Devil’s Cartel”, structures accused of generating unrest in the northern zone of the country. However, the fact that most shocked Honduras occurred on May 21 in the community of Rigores, Trujillo, Colón, where heavily armed men murdered 20 people on a palm farm in Bajo Aguán. Among the victims were farmers linked to agricultural associative companies in the area.

The Trujillo massacre once again put the historical crisis of Bajo Aguán under the spotlight, a region marked for decades by agrarian conflicts, drug trafficking, territorial disputes, and the presence of armed groups. Following the attack, the Government announced special operations and the deployment of security forces to try to regain control of the area.

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Trujillo, Colón, registered the bloodiest massacre of the year with 20 people murdered in Bajo Aguán. That same day, another bloody event also occurred in Corinto, Cortés, where five agents of the Anti-Mara and Gang Police Directorate Against Organized Crime (DIPAMPCO) were killed during an anti-drug operation on the border with Guatemala. Preliminary investigations suggest that the police officers were ambushed by members of a criminal structure linked to international drug trafficking and allegedly related to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Honduran authorities are maintaining special operations following the recent massacres recorded in different areas of the country. The case generated national shock due to the brutality with which the agents’ bodies were found. Following what happened, the Secretariat of Security suspended the leadership of DIPAMPCO and ordered an administrative and operational intervention of the police unit to investigate possible failures in the planning of the operation. Honduras has accumulated at least 13 massacres and more than 65 fatalities during the first months of 2026. The wave of violence also began to generate reactions outside the country. In recent days, the German Embassy issued a warning to its citizens to take extreme precautions in areas of Colón and Cortés due to the recent violent events recorded in Honduras. Human rights organizations and security specialists have warned that massacres continue to be one of the most alarming criminal phenomena in the country, mainly affecting young men and vulnerable communities. The director of the National Observatory of Violence (ONV), Migdonia Ayestas, recently described these events as a national emergency and called for strengthening criminal investigations through specialized inter-institutional teams. Meanwhile, authorities claim to maintain operations in different regions to capture those responsible for the recent massacres and stop the advance of criminal structures operating in Honduran territory.