Gunmen Storm TV Studio After Big Prison Escape In Ecuador

New Delhi: Hooded gunmen stormed a television studio and gangsters threatened to execute security forces and civilians in the South American nation of Ecuador, prompting its President, Daniel Noboa to order military operations against the country’s powerful criminal groups.

Noboa declared the country in a state of “internal armed conflict” just hours after gangsters declared “war” in an escalating security crisis sparked by the prison escape of one of Ecuador’s most powerful criminal bosses, AFP reported.

Ecuador was a peaceful haven sandwiched between top cocaine exporters Colombia and Peru, until violence exploded in recent years as enemy gangs with links to Mexican and Colombian cartels vie

Attackers carrying rifles and grenades stormed the studio of TC television in the port city of Guayaquil as a woman was heard amid gunshots pleading: “Don’t shoot, please don’t shoot.” The intruders forced terrified crew onto the ground, and a person could be heard screaming in apparent pain as the studio lights went off, but the live broadcast continued.

“Please, they came in to kill us. God don’t let this happen. The criminals are on air,” a TC employee told AFP in a WhatsApp message.

for control.