Ecuador violence: 178 prison guards, staff held hostage by gangs

As the stalemate between security forces and organised crime reached a fever pitch, officials in Ecuador on Thursday (Jan 11) said that the gangsters had seized at least 178 prison guards and personnel.

The SNAI prison administration said that there were riots in numerous lockups, with inmates shooting at personnel of the Ecuadorian military forces.

The small South American country has descended into crisis after years of extending control by global cartels that utilise its ports to ship cocaine to the United States and Europe.

Ecuador vows to crush gangs

The country's armed forces deployed more than 22,400 soldiers across the country in an attempt to quash the gangs' terror campaign that has killed 16 people.

The government of President Daniel Noboa has vowed not to back down in its "war" against 22 criminal gangs.

"They wanted to instil fear, but they aroused our ire," Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo said on social media.

Watch |Ecuador violence: Ecuador enters third day of the cartel terror campaign

"They believed they would subdue an entire country but forgot that the armed forces are trained for war."

The drug cartels, since Monday (Jan 8) have been carrying out a campaign of kidnappings and attacks in response to a government crackdown on organised crime that prompted Noboa to declare the country to be in a "state of war."

"Yield to evil: never!" 36-year-old Noboa, in office since November, said in a video message broadcast on television Thursday. "Fight tirelessly: always!"

The recent wave of violence was set off by the revelation on Sunday (Jan 7) of the jailbreak of one of the most potent drug lords in the nation, Jose Adolfo Macias, also referred to as "Fito".

Noboa, on Monday, imposed a state of emergency along with a nighttime curfew, but the gangs retaliated by declaring a state of "war", further threatening to execute civilians and security forces.

They have incited multiple prison riots, triggered blasts, and set vehicles on fire in crowded areas.

Police released a statement saying that the death toll had risen to 16 late on Wednesday with a "terrorist" attack on a discotheque in the Amazon that killed two and wounded nine people.

(With inputs from agencies)