Ecuador crime gangs declare war on gov’t

Criminal gangs in Ecuador declared war on the government on Tuesday as the country’s leader ordered police to “neutralize” narcoterrorists.

Gangs retaliated, taking police officers hostage, setting off explosions in several cities and on Tuesday storming a studio of state-owned TC Television in Guayaquil with guns and explosives.

At least 10 people have been killed in the attacks as the country exploded in what President Daniel Noboa called an “internal armed conflict.”

Eight people were killed and three were wounded in attacks in the port city of Guayaquil, and two officers were “viciously murdered by armed criminals” in the nearby town of Nobol, police said Tuesday evening.

Bandits threatened random executions on police hostages in a challenge to Noboa’s state of emergency and nightly curfew declared on Monday.

The emergency followed the escape of Jose Adolfo Macias, aka “Fito” — leader of Ecuador’s biggest gang Los Choneros.

A manhunt is under way for Fito, who had been serving a 34-year sentence for organized crime, drug trafficking and murder.

The 44-year-old is believed to have escaped just hours before police arrived to conduct an inspection of the Guayaquil prison where he was held.

Unrest has broken out at several penitentiaries, and on Tuesday the SNAI prisons authority said 125 guards and 14 administrative officers were being held by inmates in five cities.

Unverified videos circulating on social media purported to show captives armed with knives executing at least two guards.

Hooded attackers fired gunshots during a live TC broadcast. They forced terrified crew onto the ground.

Police entered the studio after about 30 minutes of chaos.

‘You will get war’

Noboa, 36, who was elected last year on a pledge to fight drug-related violence, on Monday ordered the military operations against gangs he described as “terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors.”

Authorities reported multiple explosions and cars set alight on Tuesday, including in the capital Quito, and said seven police officers had been kidnapped.

A video circulating on social media showed three of the kidnapped officers sitting on the ground with a gun pointed at them as one was forced to read a statement addressed to Noboa.

“You declared war, you will get war,” the visibly terrified officer read.

“You declared a state of emergency. We declare police, civilians and soldiers to be the spoils of war.”

The statement added that anyone found on the street after 11 p.m. “will be executed.”

There was panic on the streets, with shops and businesses in various cities closing early and residents rushing home as face-to-face classes were suspended nationwide until Friday.