for a year, the country's young, media—savvy president has declared war on the gangs... ..imposing emergency security measures and giving police sweeping powers of arrest. thousands are now behind bars. and the country is transforming before people's eyes. but there's a dark underside hidden from view. human rights groups are dismayed, as are relatives, at the thousands that have been arbitrarily arrested. peace may have come to el salvador, but at what price?

teacher audelia has lived here since the late 1990s — la campanera, in the capital's notorious soyapango district.

more than 20 years ago, rival gangs the ms—13 and the 18th street gang took control of neighbourhoods across the country. they became, in effect, no—go areas for outsiders and the police. thousands were murdered or caught in the crossfire. and in those years of the growth of the gangs, can you explain to us what it was like living here?

but in the last 12 months, audelia has witnessed the change on these streets that she never thought possible.

for the past year, el salvador has been living under an emergency measure called the state of exception. police and military have been mobilised in vast numbers and some constitutional rights suspended. defeating the gangs was one of the main election promises of nayib bukele, a former marketing executive turned president. so, what's the policy meant on the streets? in the suburbs of san salvador, another security patrol is about to set off. every day for a year, dozens of police, soldiers and elite troops have been sent into the back streets

of the capital, carrying lists. they search anyone with a possible profile or tattoos of a gang member. it's alleged that some officers have been given daily quotas for arrests. others are sent to specific houses, often using anonymous tip—offs. dog barks. this neighbour explains the person they're looking for has already been arrested. but this ruthless new security policy hasn't brought peace to everyone in el salvador.

in this small rural community, i've come to meet marcela. she tells me about the moment the police swept into their village last year. her sonjose duval was working in the fields.

jose was arrested under a charge being widely used by the police during this crackdown. unlawful association has been criticised by human rights organisations for its broad interpretation. it justifies arrest on the grounds of being even indirectly connected with a gang. did he have any gang affiliation that they accuse him of?

this is like a petition, signed by members of the community tojose duval�*s good character, to his lack of involvement in any gang activity, signed by all of the neighbours in the village. there must be 100 or so of them, and she says she has more inside.

do you have any information at all about how he's doing inside? have you been able to see him at all? marcela's greatest fear is that jose may end up here — a new mega prison built to house gang members. president bukele ensured these carefully choreographed images made headlines across the globe. more than 65,000 people have been arrested in just 12

months, making el salvador�*s prison population proportionally the highest in the world. do you think that you will have the strength to get through these next months? marcela is not alone. it's the one—year anniversary of the state of exception. in the capital, hundreds of families are taking to the streets. chanting. they say that their loved ones have been detained arbitrarily in flagrant abuse of their human rights and of the constitution.

they say they haven't heard from them, have no information about them, and simply don't know when or if they will ever be let out again — and there are people here who've lost loved ones in prison, too.

outside the national assembly building, the protesters call for the release of their detained relatives. yelling. they can only imagine the poor conditions inside the prisons. but one woman has agreed to talk about her experience. dolores — a union leader and single mum — was at home when she received an unexpected knock at the door.

do you think your arrest was related to your union activities? dolores was not told the grounds of her arrest — one of the rights suspended under the state of exception. it wasn't until days later that she realised she was being charged with unlawful association. soon after, she was sent to prison. can you tell me what that experience was like?

while dolores was in prison, her teenage daughter had to care for her five siblings. union members protested tirelessly against her sentence. after seven months, she was released. the government says that the international committee of the red cross makes regular visits to assess prison conditions. critics say targeting union leaders like dolores shows the president is using the emergency measure to undermine potential opposition. i put this to his vice—president, felix ulloa, in an exclusive interview.

you have made it sound very innocent, very light, but the truth is, it grants some extremely draconian powers to the police, that they can arrest you merely on an anonymous phone call, merely for having tattoos, merely for suspecting that you have an association with illicit gang activity. what you said is not true. i mean, the police, didn't go, or didn't went to the communities to capture people because they have tattoo, or because there is an anonymous phone call, no. it's not like that. this is a lie that has been spread overfor the political position in el salvador. the truth is that when the police go to capture a person in a community, it's because they have the profile. nevertheless, human rights organisations and many others, including the families of many of those who been arrested, say they have been arrested with absolutely no link to gain crime, that there are thousands of people in prison.

it could be, when you handle an operation of this size, there will be some mistakes and some people could be arrested with no link with the gangs. and how do you feel about that? you are admitting on camera that there are thousands of people, potentially thousands of people innocent. and thousands of people have been released. we are aware, as you said, that some people, probably innocent people could be part, but as i said, the perfect is enemy of the good. we are doing something really good, appreciated by the population, over 90% of the population agree with the state of exception, and they want to be extended. his policy has brought bukele unprecedented levels of support in el salvador. with a series of high—impact, headline—grabbing orders captured by his well—oiled media machine, mr bukele is now trying to wipe away any trace of the gangs from public view, even destroying gravestones

with gang symbols on them. hundreds of former gang safe houses are also being reclaimed. with the help of low—interest loans, they are passed on to localfamilies, like audelia's.

if the president does stand for re—election, will you vote for him? 100 kilometres away, marcela is also taking me to see a new house. hola. it's the one her sonjose was building for his wife, his daughter and the baby son he is yet to meet, born after he was sent to prison.

despite opponents saying it's unconstitutional, president bukele is expected to stand for re—election in 202a. his security crackdown should make him unassailable at the polls. but are thousands of families like marcela's paying the price?

hello. we're going to have all sorts

of weather on friday — from morning thunderstorms across the south of the country, to sunshine in the lake district and scotland. so a real mixed bag on the way. so let's have a look at the big picture. here's the satellite picture — jet stream pushing along this developing area of weather. multiple areas of low pressure and multiple weather fronts heading our way. and yes, there'll be some storms, too. so let's have a look at the early morning forecast — showers already breaking out across some southwestern parts of the country, possibly some rumbles of thunder, too. but further north and east, i think bright spells, if not cloudy skies across some of these north sea coasts. quite muggy in the morning. but let's have a look at the thunderstorms, then. so sweeping in from the southwest — this is around about 7am — the position of these storms very tricky to pinpoint, but we will see some downpours in places. frequent lightning, gusty winds, as well. some rain moving through northern ireland in the morning, too, then eventually, these thunderstorms will move into the midlands, move a little bit further northwards, and most of them should fade — so we're not anticipating any storms further north. now further north, it'll be a little bit cooler — around 17 in aberdeen,

19 in glasgow, further south across the country, around about 21—23 celsius. then friday night, the next era of rain sweeps across the country — this is a developing area of low pressure — with the risk of gales around some western and south—western coasts. so very blustery weather for a time in the morning, especially out towards the south—west. the rain will move north, and then later in the day on saturday, it's actually better — it's quite a breezy day, but plenty of bright, if not sunny weather, and just a scattering of showers. and the temperatures will rise a little bit, as well. now looking ahead to sunday, an area of high pressure is expected to build in from the south, extending all the way from these south—western portions. and i think a pretty decent day on the way, just a scattering of showers, really pleasant temperatures — 25 in london, about 20 expected in glasgow, and about 21 in belfast. and the outlook is looking warm for many of us,

not necessarily sunny all the time — i think the low 20s further north, and comfortably into the mid—20s across some southern areas. that's it for me, bye—bye.

live from washington, this is bbc news. thousands of people flee wildfires in north—west canada just the latest area to be battered by blazes. maui's top emergency official resigns over his role in the wildfire response there. he's acknowledged that warning sirens weren't used. and west african leaders discuss possible military intervention in niger.

hello, i'm caitriona perry. you're very welcome. our main story this hour — and, indeed, much of this week — is the latest threat from wildfires, this time in north—west canada. tens of thousands of people are rushing to evacuate from the remote community. fires have been spreading across canada's sparsely populated northwest territories for months now but in recent days, they have started to threaten the territory's capital, yellowknife. it has a population of 20,000, located 1,000 kilometres away from another large city, making the evacuation a logistical challenge. the order to leave came on wednesday night as the fire bore down on yellowknife�*s boundaries. the city has set up convoys to help drivers navigate their way out the area as smoke blankets the only highway in or out of the capital. earlier, my colleague carl nasman spoke to 0llie williams, a journalist from yellowknife who has already escaped and is out of harm's way.