Authorities in El Salvador have moved prisoners from two of the country's hyper-violent gangs into the same prison for the first time, in a bid to stop them running operations from behind bars. Incredible images show handcuffed members from the notorious Barrio 18 gang being marched onto buses taking them from Izalco jail to San Francisco Gotera in an effort to curb gang violence. In all 1,177 Barrio 18 members were transferred. In a potentially incendiary move, Barrio 18 members at the jail will mix with their rivals from the hyper-violent Mara Salvatrucha gang, or MS-13. Scroll down for video . Authorities in El Salvador have moved prisoners from two of the country's hyper-violent gangs into the same prison for the first time, in a bid to stop them running operations from behind bars . Members of the Barrio 18 gang wait to be admitted on their arrival to San Francisco Gotera penitentiary, their loyalty made patently clear by the huge tattoos on their backs . A member of the Barrio 18 gang waits to be admitted upon arrival to the San Francisco Gotera penitentiary . Incredible images show handcuffed members from the notorious Barrio 18 gang being marched onto buses taking them from Izalco jail to San Francisco Gotera in an effort to curb gang violence . In a potentially incendiary move, Barrio 18 members at the jail will mix with their rivals from the hyper-violent Mara Salvatrucha gang, or M13 . And they will all be classified not by their gang affiliation, but by how dangerous they are. The policy of mixing the gangs together came about when officials realised that gangs were directing criminal activity from within prison walls. Prisons director Rodil Hernandez said last week in San Salvador that the gang members were moved from regular prisons to the maximum security lockup where they will be completely isolated from the outside world. So far this year, gang members have been blamed for killing 20 police officers, two soldiers, six prison guards and a prosecutor . A Salvadoran policeman guards members of the Barrio 18 gang upon their arrival to the San Francisco Gotera penitentiary . Just last week eight gang members were killed in a confrontation with police on a coffee farm in El Salvador . Gang members in El Salvador were found to be running crime from behind bars, leading to the government taking steps to curb their activities . Last Thursday, some 300,000 Salvadorans marched in the capital, one of 12 demonstrations around the country calling foran end to violence . Violence in El Salvador has increased over the past year after a 2012 truce between Barrio 18 and MS 13 started to unravel . In January, the Salvadoran government authorized the policeto shoot 'without any fear of suffering consequences' if threatened by gang members . Members of the Barrio 18 gang stand up against the windows of a bus outside the San Francisco Gotera jail . Two Barrio 18 gang members sprint after they get off the prison bus, their arms handcuffed and intertwined . He said investigations indicated these gang members had ties to some recent attacks on state institutions. So far this year, gang members have been blamed for killing 20 police officers, two soldiers, six prison guards and a prosecutor. Just last week eight gang members were . killed in a confrontation with police on a coffee farm in El . Salvador, according to police, the same day as hundreds of . thousands of people marched around the country for an end to . rising violence. Police raided the farm in the city of San Jose Villanueva, . south of San Salvador, after complaints from residents, . according to a statement. The gang members fired first, the police said, and one . officer was lightly injured. The gang members were part of  Barrio 18, according to the prosecutor's office. Salvadoran soldiers and policemen secure a crime scene in the town of Zacatecoluca on April 18, 2015. At least nine members of the gang Barrio 18 were killed in El Salvador the previous week in a confrontation with the army . A heavily armoured policeman watches as handcuffed gang members board a bus for the prison transfer . In January, the Salvadoran government authorized the police . to shoot 'without any fear of suffering consequences' if . threatened by gang members. Violence in El Salvador has increased over the past year . after a 2012 truce between Barrio 18 - also known as 18th Street Gang, because it started in the 1960s near 18th Street in LA's Rampart District  - and MS-13 started to unravel. Last Thursday, some 300,000 Salvadorans marched in the . capital, one of 12 demonstrations around the country calling for . an end to violence. 'This is a fight that we are going to win, all Salvadorans, . because we are going to take on the challenge of continuing to . work for the respect for life, to deepen peace, and to make sure . that justice prevails,' Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez . Ceren said at the march in the capital. An imprisoned member of street gang Mara 18 poses for a photograph at the Izalco prison, about 40 miles from San Salvador on May 20, 2013 . A jailed gang member poses for a photograph at the maximum security jail of Izalco in Sonsonate in 2013 . Members of the MS 13 Mara Salvatrucha street gang flash their gang's hand sign from inside a jail cell at a police station in San Salvador in 2012 . An imprisoned member of  Mara 18 poses for a photograph at the Izalco prison on May 20, 2013 . A member of Mara Salvatrucha poses for a picture at the National Penitentiary in Tamara, Honduras, in 2006 . A former leader of the Mara Salvatrucha gang poses during a photo session at Comayagua jail in Honduras in 2008 .
Incredible images show handcuffed members from the notorious Barrio 18 gang being marched onto buses .
In total 1,177 were transferred to a different jail where they will mix with their arch rivals - Mara Salvatrucha .
The gang members will now no longer be classified by gang affiliation, but by how dangerous they are .