News In Brief

Salvadorean rebels topple bridge, raid Army post

Left-wing guerrillas Sunday destroyed a heavily fortified suspension bridge 42 miles from here that had been a key road link to the eastern half of El Salvador.

The attack on the Cuscatlan suspension bridge over the Lempa River followed an attack two days earlier on a government Army garrison. Residents said about 100 soldiers killed in the raid were buried in mass graves by bulldozers, but authorities refused to report casualties. A US official described the battle as an important defeat for the Army.

The attack left only one bridge spanning the Lempa, which divides El Salvador in two. A railroad bridge 18 miles south of the Cuscatlan bridge has one lane for motor traffic.