Infighting among factions fighting for territory in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, killed nearly twenty people.
Local police chief Pablo Davila told reporters that the gunfight broke out in the northern northern Nueva Prosperina on Thursday afternoon.
“The criminals killed each other in certain parts of the town yesterday,” Davila said. “The problem is that they know each other, they know their residence and are fighting for who has power in that territory.”
Ecuador’s presidential election is a runoff between conservative incumbent left-wing lawyers
Police launched an offensive response, conducted about 200 searches and captured guns and ammunition. 14 people, including two minors, were arrested in the area.
Authorities say several of the people killed and arrested had criminal records, with charges ranging from robbery to drug trafficking.
Ecuador’s national police introduced the people detained in the police operation in a police operation, which led to multiple victims due to gang clashes, in a photo of the handout distributed on March 7, 2025, Guayaquil, Ecuador. (Ecuadorian Ministry of Interior/by Reuters Handout)
As part of President Daniel Noboa’s war on drug gangs, the government’s response in the most violent areas of Ecuador has doubled in recent weeks.
Los Tiguerones and other gangs are regarded by the government as terrorist organizations.
Noboa, who is seeking re-election in April’s runoff vote, said military and police will be allowed to respond to Guayaguir’s violence without fear of being punished for violent hands.
Click here to get the Fox News app
He wrote on X: “Defend this country, I will defend you.”
