The security crisis and the wave of violence hitting Ecuador have already left at least 10 people dead, according to local authorities. President Daniel Noboa classified 22 criminal factions as terrorist groups.
Authorities also reported the kidnapping of seven police officers. Ten arrests have been made in connection with the crimes, police said.
The three police officers who worked the night shift were taken from their station, according to the police on social media on Tuesday (09), while a fourth missing police officer was taken by three criminals in Quito.
“Our specialized units are active with the aim of locating our colleagues and continuing to capture the criminals,” said the police. “These acts will not go unpunished.”
Separately, 13 armed men who took command of the TC television station during a live broadcast were also arrested on Tuesday (09).
The conflicts in Ecuador began with the escape from a prison in Guayaquil of criminal Adolfo Macías, known as “Fito”, one of the leaders of the Los Choneros group, as well as clashes in other prisons.
What does an “internal armed conflict” mean?
Decree number 111, by which the president of Ecuador declared the existence of an “internal armed conflict”, implies the immediate mobilization and intervention of security forces in the national territory against organized crime.
The measure orders “to provide for the mobilization and intervention of the Armed Forces and the National Police in the national territory to guarantee sovereignty and territorial integrity against transnational organized crime, terrorist organizations and non-state belligerent actors, in accordance with the provisions of this Decree Executive”.
Furthermore, it allows the Armed Forces to “carry out military operations, under international humanitarian law and respecting human rights, to neutralize identified groups”.
The declaration of “internal armed conflict” adds, according to decree 111, to the state of emergency and curfew previously decreed by Noboa due to the “serious internal commotion”.
According to article 164 of the Constitution of Ecuador, the President of the Republic “may decree a state of emergency throughout the national territory or part of it in the event of aggression, international or internal armed conflict, serious internal commotion, public calamity or natural disaster ”.
Between Monday (8) and Tuesday (9), there was “a night of terror” in several regions of the country, as described by citizens with whom CNN spoke.
Source: CNN Brasil
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