El Salvador, one of the world's deadliest countries, has recorded a rare day without a single homicide.

National Civil Police commissioner Howard Cotto said at a news conference on Thursday that no murders were reported the previous day in the gang-plagued Central American nation.

The last time the country went a full day without any killings was January 22, 2015, according to records kept by The Associated Press. It also happened once in 2013 and on two days the year before that.

The police did not offer any explanation for the lack of violence on the day, local media reported, but authorities clarified that they had not restored a controversial truce with the gangs.