Suspected members of a street gang in Honduras have opened fire on bus passengers in three separate attacks, killing 12 and wounding 18 others.
Three suspects are being questioned in connection with the shootings in San Pedro Sula. Officials said the attacks were an apparent reaction to tough anti-gang laws passed earlier this month.
Police said the attackers were believed to be members of the Mara Salvatrucha, one of Central America's largest street gangs. Four of the 18 wounded are in a serious condition at local hospitals. The dead included nine men and three women.
The attacks began when three assailants boarded a bus in a northern suburb of San Pedro Sula on Saturday and began to rob the passengers at gunpoint.
Jose Luis Munoz, assistant chief of police in San Pedro Sula, said eight victims were shot in the head after being forced to turn over their wallets, but added robbery was not the main motive of the attackers.
The only survivors were two boys, aged seven and two, whose father hid them under a seat. The father was killed. Moments later, the same group of attackers, and another four accomplices, opened fire on a passing bus in the southern part of the city after the driver refused to stop.
The shots hit the windows, killing one passenger and wounding several others. The attackers fled in a car, and quickly attacked another bus, apparently because the driver had refused to let them pass him - killing three passengers and wounding three more.
The new law that went into effect on August 15th punishes gang leaders with nine to 12 years of prison and fines of up to £9,000. Rank-and-file gang members can receive up to nine years in prison.
Honduras, with a population of 6.6 million, has an estimated 500 street gangs with almost 100,000 members.