The recent onslaught of drug-related violence leaves at least ten dead in Ecuadorwhose president declared an “internal armed conflict” and sent the military to the streets after armed men stormed a television channel live.
(Also read: LIVE | Internal armed conflict in Ecuador: at least 10 dead due to wave of violence).
There were “eight people killed” in attacks in the port of Guayaquil (southwest), a local police chief said at a press conference.
The security body also indicated on the social network X that two agents were “vilely murdered by armed criminals” in the nearby town of Nobol.
Several panic videos were published on social networks.
The president of the country, Daniel Noboa, announced earlier in X that he signed an executive decree declaring “internal armed conflict“, in the midst of the 60-day state of emergency that had been decreed on Monday, when the kidnapping of police officers, attacks on the press and prison riots began.
(Keep reading: Peru declares an emergency on its border with Ecuador due to a wave of drug violence).
But, just as the country is being involved in an immense wave of violence, there are also those who They take advantage of the situation to circulate fake news on different social networks.
In fact, The Ecuadorian Police created an anti Fake News campaign in X where they show and identify images and videos that are fake.
One of the publications left by the campaign is about an alleged attack on a school located in Puebloviejoa town located in the center of the country.
All the videos and images that are being rectified are published on the official X account of the Ecuadorian Police and details what content is false and the reasons.
Noboa attributes the attack to retaliation for his actions to “regain official control” of the prisons and warned that he will not negotiate with “terrorists.”
Criminals “have committed bloody and unprecedented acts in the history of the nationbut despite its brutal evil, this attempt will fail,” Admiral Jaime Vela, head of the joint command of the Armed Forces, told the press after a meeting of the Security Council in Quito that was headed by the president.
(We recommend: 'Fito', the dangerous criminal who escaped from prison and caused chaos in Ecuador).
Located in the middle of Colombia and Peru, The world's largest cocaine producers, Ecuador went from being an island of peace to a drug war fortress. 2023 closed with more than 7,800 homicides and 220 tons of drugs seized, new records in the nation of 17 million inhabitants.
Since 2021, clashes between prisoners have left more than 460 dead. In addition, homicides on the streets between 2018 and 2023 grew by almost 800%, going from 6 to 46 per 100,000 inhabitants.
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
*WITH INFORMATION FROM AFP
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