Ecuador is going through an escalation of violence in recent weeks due to the constant riots that occurred in six prisons, the escape of prisoners and the kidnapping of police officers.
The government of that country decreed this Monday a state of emergency to allow the actions of the Armed Forces, in support of the Police, to control prison centers.
(In context: LIVE: chaos in Ecuador due to multiple violent attacks in Quito and Guayaquil).
However, despite this, the panic in the Ecuadorian streets has been recorded in videos published by social media users.
In several of them, for example, you can see how a group of hooded criminals entered this Tuesday the TC television channel, in the city of Guayaquil in the southwest of Ecuadorand subdued their staff during a live broadcast.
Take live channel Ecuador
In turn, users on X reported that, presumably, criminals had also entered the University of Guayaquil. In the published video, several students can be seen running and leaving the institutions.
Likewise, on Facebook, some images of the closed rooms as a result of the alleged entry of hooded men.
🇪🇨 | URGENT – CRISIS IN ECUADOR: Criminals attack and attempt to kidnap the University of Guayaquil. General chaos. pic.twitter.com/Uk1HqISKPS
— UHN PLUS (@UHN_Plus) January 9, 2024
A similar situation would have occurred in Machala, province of El Oro, a place that was allegedly evacuated after the entry of assailants.
(Also: President of Ecuador declares internal armed conflict and calls for military action).
There have also been disturbances in local establishments, on the streets of Guayaquil and various violent incidents involving firearms.
Even in the metro of the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, where intense clashes are reported.
Likewise, President Daniel Noboa ordered this Tuesday “the Armed Forces to carry out military operations to neutralize these groups.”
I have signed the executive decree declaring Internal Armed Conflict and identified the following transnational organized crime groups as terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors: Águilas, ÁguilasKiller, Ak47, Caballeros Oscuros, ChoneKiller,… pic.twitter.com/rVfSTFmHlG
— Daniel Noboa Azin (@DanielNoboaOk) January 9, 2024
Eight dead and thirteen captured
At least eight people died and two others were injured in several armed attacks recorded today in various parts of the coastal city of Guayaquil, confirmed the mayor, Aquiles Álvarez, shortly after a heavily armed group occupied the facilities of the TC Televisión channel and took over employees as hostages.
The police managed to recover the facilities and arrested thirteen people, but in other parts of the city violent events occurred that resulted in the death of eight people, in a day of terror that also devastated several cities in the country, including the capital, Quito. In Guayaquil, the epicenter of violence and the second largest city in the country, there were robberies, looting and shootings in commercial areas.
Ecuadorian police officers deployed in the streets.
In the north of the capital, several individuals shot at vehicles passing near them, causing the death of five people and wounding a student from a school in the area. Nearby, an armed group broke into a spare parts warehouse and murdered three people.
“This has to be called a terrorist act,” said General Víctor Herrera, commander of the metropolitan police of Guayaquil, who assured that the assailants belong to the organized crime group “Los Tiguerones”, a gang that is dedicated to drug trafficking, extortion, hitmen and arms trafficking.
The public ministry reported that it will prosecute those arrested for the crime of terrorism.
LATEST NEWS EDITORIAL*With information from EFE
More news in EL TIEMPO
#Videos #day #panic #Ecuador #due #armed #takeover #canal #commerce #universities
