QUITO, Jan 2 (NNN-XINHUA) — Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has declared a new 60-day “state of emergency” in nine provinces and three municipalities as an increase in criminal violence has caused serious internal commotion, local media said.
The decree, signed on Wednesday by the president, has been in force since Thursday in the provinces of Guayas, Manabi, Santa Elena, Los Rios, El Oro and Esmeraldas in the coastal region, in the central-northern provinces of Pichincha and Santo Domingo, as well as in Sucumbios province in the Amazon region.
The measure is also applied in the municipality of La Mana in the central province of Cotopaxi, along with the municipalities of Las Naves and Echeandia in the Andean province of Bolivar.
The president said the 60-day validity of the decree aims to contain and reduce high-intensity violence, neutralize ongoing or imminent threats, and dismantle criminal structures.
Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 23 last year, 1,232 victims of intentional homicide were registered in Ecuador in the provinces of Guayas, Los Rios, Manabi, El Oro, Pichincha, Esmeraldas, Santa Elena, Santo Domingo and Sucumbios, according to reports from the National Police.
Meanwhile, at least six people were killed in an armed attack late Wednesday during New Year’s Eve celebrations in the port city of Manta in the province of Manabi on Ecuador’s Pacific coast, local media reported Thursday.
The shooting took place at around 11 p.m. local time outside a home in the Nueva Esperanza neighborhood of the Eloy Alfaro parish, according to media reports.
Armed men stormed the gathering and opened fire indiscriminately at people participating in the celebrations, killing six and wounding at least a dozen others.
Those killed included a minor, a woman and four men aged between 26 and 45.
The attack caused panic at the scene and prompted the rapid mobilization of police units and emergency teams. — NNN-XINHUA