At least five police officers have been killed in Ecuador by violent organized crime attacks throughout the country, leading to the president declaring emergencies in two provinces this week.
On Tuesday, two officers in the port city of Guayaquil were fatally shot when attackers opened fire on their patrol car, CBS News reports. Later in the day, three more officers were shot and killed in the nearby city of Duran.
At least 13 attacks against police and oil installations have been launched by organized crime groups in the country. The attacks are in response to inmates transferred from a prison in Guayas province that was the site of prison massacres that have left 400 inmates dead since February 2021.
Two officers in Guayaquil were injured in an attack on a police station, and eight guards were taken hostage by inmates in the city of Esmeraldas. The guards were later released.
In response to the attacks, Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of exception in the provinces of Guayas and Esmeraldas on Tuesday. The provinces now face nightly curfews for 45 days, with officials allowed to limit freedom of assembly and movement.
"These acts of sabotage and terrorism are... a declaration of open war against the rule of law, the government, and against all of you, the citizens," Lasso said in a broadcast address, adding that police "will intensify their operations."
"Today, narco criminals feel uncomfortable and they express their discomfort with violence," he said.
