Armed men stormed a live television broadcast in Ecuador on Tuesday, forcing employees to hit the floor and implying they had explosives.
Their faces sheathed in balaclavas, the invaders burst into the studio of TC Television network, Ecuador’s public television channel, in the port city of Guayaquil and brandished large guns as staffers huddled on the floor, Reuters reported.
🇪🇨 #Ecuador | El país está secuestrado, esto ya se fue a otro nivel. 💔
Cuando me duele que este país tan privilegiado llegue a este nivel. 💔 pic.twitter.com/Xu6Xy3hBzX
— Divulgación Científica (@Sargox) January 9, 2024
Gunshot-type noises were audible in the background as the men said they had bombs, and someone could be heard yelling, “Don’t shoot!” After 15 minutes, the station’s feed cut out.
The National Police of Ecuador said on X that it had sent “specialized units” to respond, and a few hours later Police Commander César Zapata said they had arrested the masked intruders and seized their guns and explosives. The government declared the assault a “terrorist act.”
It was one of several attacks that have occurred across the country in the 24 hours since the government declared a national state of emergency after the apparent escape of powerful gang leader Azdolfo “Fito” Macias from a Guayaquil prison on Sunday. Macias, head of the Los Choneros gang, disappeared from his cell the day before he was supposed to be transferred to a higher-security facility, authorities said.
Several explosions have rocked the country, and several police officers have been kidnapped in three cities since the first state of emergency was declared, the National Police said — including one in Quito, the capital, and three in the city of Quevedo. In total, at least seven officers been kidnapped in four cities, the police said on X.
Another two people were arrested for possessing explosives and on suspicion of participating in some of the bombings.
Monday’s emergency declaration by President Daniel Noboa enables authorities to mobilize the military in installations such as prisons, and suspend the rights of citizens everywhere else. He added to the decree after the television station incursion by labeling 20 drug trafficking gangs as terrorist groups and directed the country’s military to “neutralize” them. The government also imposed an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.
Ecuador has been gripped by drug-related violence that is flaring up throughout South American countries.
With News Wire Services