SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador's new president is touting a rare day without a homicide in this small but violent Central American nation.

President Nayib Bukele said Thursday that there was not a single killing the previous day, the final day of July. The Attorney General's Office and the morgue confirmed there were no homicides Wednesday.

Criminologist Ricardo Sosa said that has happened only eight times since 2000.

July was Bukele's second month in office, and Sosa said it saw an average of five homicides a day. Justice Minister Rogelio Rivas said the 154 killings in July were down from 291 during the same month last year.

Sosa said there are signs that Bukele's efforts against gang violence are working, but the challenge will be sustaining the results.