Leftist guerrillas put a bloody end to an eight-month-old ban on the use of inacurate homemade mortars in cities with an attack on the Defense Ministry that killed one civilian and wounded 15 others.
Even leftist politician Ruben Zamora, who maintains formal links with the insurgent army, termed the attack "incorrect" and "condemnable" as a violation of the Geneva Accords.The rebel Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN, had announced Feb. 28 the suspension of use of such weapons in populated areas because their inaccuracy resulted in civilian casualties.
Authorities said 16 mortars were fired at the heavily fortified military compound housing the ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Half the projectiles were way off their mark.