Gunmen open fire in two separate attacks in Honduras, killing at least 16 people

At least 16 people, including six police officers, were killed in two separate attacks on the Honduran coast, with the motive believed to be linked to a decades-long agrarian conflict.

Gunmen opened fire in two separate attacks Thursday on the Honduran coast, killing at least 16 people, including six police officers, police said.

The first incident took place at a plantation in the municipality of Trujillo in northern Honduras, where at least 10 workers were shot and killed, National Police spokesman Edgardo Barahona said.

The resource-rich region has been the site of a decades-long agrarian conflict.

In the second attack, assailants opened fire on police in the municipality of Omoa in the Cortes department near the Guatemalan border, killing six officers, including a senior officer, police said.

The officers were assigned to an anti-gang mission and were attacked while travelling to Omoa from the capital, Tegucigalpa, police said.

Although Barahona said at least 10 workers were killed in Trujillo, he said the overall toll still remains unclear, partly because relatives of the victims have removed bodies of their loved ones. Investigators have been sent to the scene, he said.

The National Police and armed forces will respond to the both of the areas where attacks took place, and teams including forensic specialists and prosecutors will be formed to investigate, the Security Ministry said.