A New armed attack in a city in the southwest of Ecuador Accordingly, there were at least seven dead and a dozen injured National Police this Thursday, after a state of emergency was declared in 9 provinces and 3 municipalities due to the increasing violence in the country.
The incident occurred around midnight when gunmen opened fire on several people who had gathered at a family celebration in a neighborhood of the port city Ceilingin the province Manabi260 kilometers away Quito.
According to the police report, the attack left six dead and ten injured. Local media reported that those who died were also a minor.
The colonel Carlos RivadeneiraPolice Chief of Ceilingtold local press that the attack left seven dead, including a child, and 10 injured. As he explained, investigators suspect that the incident is related to a “territorial battle between criminals,” although he emphasized that, according to the police report, the deceased had no criminal record.
This incident occurred just three days after another similar attack in the city Puerto Lopezalso in Manabí, where six people died under similar circumstances. The province, which is central to the drug trade due to its strategic location in the Pacific, is often the scene of violence attributed to criminal gangs.
Ecuador ended the most violent year in its history. As of December 19, 8,847 violent deaths have been recordedaccording to official information. This number exceeds the 8,248 homicides reported in 2023 and the 7,063 recorded in 2024.
The increase in attacks comes in the context of a new state of emergency and the escalation of organized crime in the country.
Manabí is one of the nine provinces and three municipalities where the president governs Daniel Noboa has a new one Emergency due to the increase in crime and the presence of organized gangs.
The presidential decree warns that “the situation of violence and organized crime not only continues, but has also worsened and expanded territorially,” requiring a comprehensive and targeted state response.
The state of emergency, e.gsevere internal shock“, is valid for 60 days Guayas, Santa Elena, Los Ríos, El Oro, Pichincha, Esmeraldas, Santo Domingo, Sucumbíos and the communities of The manna (Cotopaxi), The ships And Echeandia (Bolívar), in addition to Manabí.
In these areas, the rights to inviolability of home and correspondence are suspended, allowing security forces to carry out immediate raids and collect vital information to anticipate or neutralize threats.
The measure covers and extends the declaration to areas that have already been under a state of emergency since November Pichincha, Santo Domingo, Sucumbíos And Emeraldsin response to the increase in violent events and worsening crime in these provinces.
Since 2024, Ecuador has been experiencing an “internal armed conflict,” declared by the government to combat criminal groups classified as “terrorists.” Despite these measures, the country ended 2025 with a record number of murders: as of December 19, 8,847 murders were registered, linked to territorial disputes between organized crime gangs.
(With information from Associated Press)
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