Armed attack leaves 5 dead, 8 injured in Ecuador

According to eyewitnesses, three men who arrived on a motorcycle in the Isla Trinitaria district, in the southern part of the city, broke into a house where they “shot several times”, News Bulletin 247 reported.

“We have five dead and eight injured,” police director Fabri Modalvo told a press conference. Among the victims is a policeman, he pointed out.

Ecuador – which borders Colombia and Peru, the world’s top cocaine-producing countries – is experiencing the worst escalation of violence in its modern history.

Drug-related crime resulted in homicides almost doubling in 2022 compared to 2021, from 14 to 25 per 100,000 residents.

On May 25, six people were killed and as many wounded when gunmen opened fire inside a restaurant in the tourist town of Montañita.

Two days earlier, gunmen stormed a funeral home in neighboring Manda and opened fire on attendees, killing four and injuring eight.

Authorities attribute the spike in violence to gang battles for control of the Pacific coast, a strategic hub for drug trafficking to the US and Europe.

RHM/PR