President Daniel Noboa of Ecuador has issued an order for the flushing out of criminal gangs following several days of violence that culminated in an attack on a television studio.
Employees of public television channel TC were forced to the ground when masked gunmen burst into the live studio during a program.
Two employees were hurt in the incident, which resulted in 13 arrests by the police.
At least ten people have died in Ecuador since a 60-day state of emergency was declared on Monday.
The state of emergency was established after a prominent mobster fled from his prison cell.
It is unknown whether the event in the TV station in Guayaquil was related to the disappearance from a prison in the same city of the Choneros gang’s boss, Adolfo Macas Villamar, or Fito as he is better known.
President Noboa declared that the country was now in a “internal armed conflict,” and he was mobilizing the armed forces to take out “military operations to neutralize” what he called “transnational organized crime, terrorist organizations, and belligerent non-state actors.”
The government of neighboring Peru has ordered the urgent deployment of a police force to the border to prevent any disturbance from spreading into the country.
The US has condemned the “brazen attacks” in Ecuador and has stated that it is “closely coordinating” with President Daniel Noboa and his Ecuadorean government and stands “ready to provide assistance.”
Ecuador is one of the world’s top banana exporters, but also exports oil, coffee, cocoa, shrimps and fish products. A surge in violence in the Andean nation, inside and outside its prisons, has been linked to fighting between drug cartels, both foreign and local, over control of cocaine routes to the US and Europe.
President Noboa’s emergency declaration responded to a wave of recent jail riots and escapes from prisons and other acts of violence blamed by authorities on criminal gangs.
The decree builds on the state of emergency issued on Monday, which mandates a nightly curfew in an effort to reduce unrest in the aftermath of Fito’s breakout. Security forces have been attempting to restore calm in at least six jails where disturbances erupted on Monday.
