Ecuador’s president on Tuesday gave orders to “neutralize” criminal gangs after gunmen stormed and opened fire in a TV studio, as bandits threatened random executions on a second day of terror in the country.
Gangs declared war on the government when Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa announced a state of emergency following the prison escape on Sunday of one of Ecuador’s most powerful narco bosses.
Noboa ordered military operations to “neutralize” criminal gangs as the country exploded into what he called an “internal armed conflict.”
Photo: AFP
Long a peaceful haven sandwiched between top cocaine exporters Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has seen violence explode in the past few years as rival gangs with links to Mexican and Colombian cartels vie for control.
In the port city of Guayaquil on Tuesday, men wearing balaclavas and waving weapons stormed a state-owned TV station during a live broadcast, taking several journalists and staff members hostage.
At least 10 people have been killed in a series of attacks blamed on gangs — eight in Guayaquil and two “viciously murdered by armed criminals” in the nearby town of Nobol, police said.
Three officers were wounded in Guayaquil, they said.
After the escape of Jose Adolfo Macias, aka “Fito” — leader of Ecuador’s biggest gang, Los Choneros — Noboa on Monday declared a nationwide state of emergency and nightly curfew.
Gangs retaliated, taking police officers hostage and setting off explosions in several cities.
On Tuesday they stormed a studio of state-owned TC Television in Guayaquil with guns and explosives.
Hooded attackers fired gunshots during a live TC broadcast as a woman could be heard pleading: “Don’t shoot, please don’t shoot.”
The intruders forced crew onto the ground and a person could be heard screaming as the studio lights went out, but the broadcast continued.
Police entered the studio after about 30 minutes of chaos.
Noboa, 36, who was elected last year on a pledge to fight drug-related violence, ordered the military operations against gangs he described as “terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors.”
Authorities reported multiple explosions and vehicles set alight, including in the capital, Quito, and said that 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 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 11pm “will be executed.”
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) yesterday released the first video documenting the submerged sea trials of Taiwan’s indigenous defense submarine prototype, the Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, showing underwater navigation and the launch of countermeasures. The footage shows the vessel’s first dive, steering and control system tests, and the raising and lowering of the periscope and antenna masts. It offered a rare look at the progress in the submarine’s sea acceptance tests. The Hai Kun carried out its first shallow-water diving trial late last month and has since completed four submerged tests, CSBC said. The newly released video compiles images recorded from Jan. 29 to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to make advanced 3-nanometer chips in Japan, stepping up its semiconductor manufacturing roadmap in the country in a triumph for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s technology ambitions. TSMC is to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fab in Kumamoto, company chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. That is an upgrade from an original blueprint to produce 7-nanometer chips by late next year, people familiar with the matter said. TSMC began mass production at its first plant in Japan’s Kumamoto in late 2024. Its second fab, which is still under construction, was originally focused on
DETERRENCE EFFORTS: Washington and partners hope demonstrations of force would convince Beijing that military action against Taiwan would carry high costs The US is considering using HMAS Stirling in Western Australia as a forward base to strengthen its naval posture in a potential conflict with China, particularly over Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, Washington plans to deploy up to four nuclear-powered submarines at Stirling starting in 2027, providing a base near potential hot spots such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. The move also aims to enhance military integration with Pacific allies under the Australia-UK-US trilateral security partnership, the report said. Currently, US submarines operate from Guam, but the island could
The partisan standoff over President William Lai’s (賴清德) proposed defense budget has raised questions about the nation’s ability to adequately fund its own defense, the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report released on Tuesday. The report, titled Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues, said the government has increased its defense budget at an average annual rate of 5 percent from 2019 to 2023, with about 2.5 percent of its GDP spent on defense in 2024. Lai in November last year proposed a special budget of about US$40 billion over eight years, and said he intends to increase defense spending to
RSS