The video will start in 8 Cancel

News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

This is the shocking video of police officers torturing two young men with a taser and a dog.

The incident took place in the Central American country of El Savador .

The two victims were allegedly part of a gang.

In the video the dog can be seen biting into one the boys' ankle and tugging at his trousers.

The abuse has sparked outrage in the tiny Central American nation, which for years has had one of the world's highest levels of homicides.

The vice-president of the National Assembly, Guillermo Gallegos said: "These are isolated incidents which are not a policy of the state and without doubt something that should not occur."

(Image: CEN)

The video has been seen tens of thousands of times since being uploaded and has sparked a debate between local social media users about corruption in their police force.

In 2012, rival gangs brokered a truce in an attempt to bring down the number of deaths from shootings and other criminal-related activities.

(Image: CEN)

Two years later the truce came to an end, bringing back violence to the streets of the country - with police officers specifically targeted.

In response, the government of president Salvador Sanchez Ceren set up a 1000-strong force to clamp down on gangs, and either kill or capture their top leaders.

Read more:

Critics say the government's zero-tolerance approach might escalate into a full blown civil war between the gangs -- whose numbers total some 70,000 -- and the country's security forces.

(Image: CEN)

Government officials, however, maintain force is only one of the options available and that other measures are being employed to tackle gangs.

They are adamant, though, that negotiating with gang leaders is not a option.