Masked gunmen stormed the studios of the Ecuadorian state television channel located in the largest city and economic center of the country, Guayaquil. The assailants took hostages and seized control of the station, with gunfire reported in the area. After some time, media sources in the country reported that the police apprehended the assailants, but no injuries have been confirmed so far.
Reports indicate that at least seven police officers were kidnapped. This incident follows the declaration of a state of emergency in the country after riots in several prisons, during which prison guards were taken hostage by inmates and one of the country's most powerful drug lords, Adolfo "Fito" Macias, escaped from the prison where he was held.
Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa announced that the country is in a state of “internal armed conflict” and ordered measures to neutralize criminal groups involved in drug trafficking following a decree issued on Tuesday. The presidential decree acknowledged the existence of an “internal armed conflict” and ordered the “mobilization and intervention of the armed forces and police to ensure sovereignty and territorial integrity against organized crime and terrorist organizations.” Noboa also instructed the neutralization of all criminal groups, presenting a detailed list of them.
