The President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboadeclared in a decree the existence of an “internal armed conflict” in the country and ordered the armed forces to carry out military operations to combat organized crime groups, shortly after masked gunmen broke into a television station in the city of Guayaquil and amid an escalation in tension.
The military intervention ordered by the president comes at a time when the country is under pressure State of emergency with night curfew Since this Monday, Noboa has been prescribed and incidents have occurred in at least six prisons in the country.
Despite this state of emergency, the… Vehicle explosion, bombings, kidnapping of police officers and distribution of leaflets in which the transfer of inmates from one prison to another is rejected.
“I signed the executive order with the declaration Internal armed conflict“Noboa wrote in a message on his X account (formerly Twitter) noting that he had identified transnational organized crime groups “as terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors.”
Among them he listed “Águilas, ÁguilasKiller, Ak47, Caballeros Oscuros, ChoneKiller, Choneros, Covicheros, Cuartel de las Feas, Cubanos, Fatales, Gánster, Kater Piler, Lagartos, Latin Kings, Lobos, Los p.27, Los Tiburones, Mafia “on 18, Mafia Trébol, Patrones, R7, Tiguerones”.
And he added that he had ordered the armed forces Conduct military operations to neutralize these groups.
Several masked men attack a television in Ecuador
Several armed men with their faces covered They broke into the TC television stationin the city of Guayaquil in southwestern Ecuador, and took his employees hostage during a live broadcast.
Several armed, masked men could be seen in the live images They kept the sewer workers on the groundwhich they demanded that they should directly ask the police who had arrived at the place to leave the place.
They heard it later several shots and screams from people As the live broadcast continued, the moment was seen when a hooded man placed what appeared to be unlit dynamite into the jacket pocket of a TC television employee.
The television station kept the broadcast live Meanwhile, the hooded men ordered that no one was allowed to leave the place. Afterwards, people shouting “police” came in and helped those who were still on the station’s set. One of them, wounded, asked for urgent help because he had an unusual amount of blood.
The police intervened, removed the injured and arrested several people while the channel continued the open broadcast with the image of the dark set, where a staircase, chairs, a camera and a door were barely visible.
In the meantime, In Quito, several businesses closed their doors for fear of further violence.
These are the images of the moment circulating on social networks: