Shooting in Ecuador kills nine
Nine people have been killed after dozens of gunmen arriving in boats and taxis opened fire at a port in northern Ecuador near the Colombian border, the prosecutor said Tuesday.
>Interior Minister Juan Zapata told Ecuavisa television that the attack was carried out by 30 heavily armed people and linked to organized crime gangs.
He said the attackers arrived in two boats and in vehicles.
Zapata said there were between 1,500 and 2,000 people in the port at the time of the morning shooting.
The attack took place because the fishermen “preferred the safety” of one criminal organization and were targeted by another in retaliation, Zapata added.
In a tweet, the prosecutor said that "seven bodies were found in the artisanal fishing port" in the district of Esmeraldas, and two others in a nearby health center, and taken to the local morgue.< /p>
One of the taxis used to transport the attackers was found abandoned in the port and seized by police, the prosecutor said in another tweet.
The impoverished province of Esmeraldas has been under a state of emergency since March 3 due to high levels of crime and violence.
Ecuador is located between Colombia and Peru, the two largest producers of cocaine in the world, much of which is shipped to the United States and Europe from Ecuadorian ports.
As a result, Ecuador has recently seen an increase in violence and murders related to drug trafficking.
Its murder rate nearly doubled, from 14 per 100,000 citizens in 2021 to 25 a year later.
AFP
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Nine people have been killed after dozens of gunmen arriving in boats and taxis opened fire at a port in northern Ecuador near the Colombian border, the prosecutor said Tuesday.
>Interior Minister Juan Zapata told Ecuavisa television that the attack was carried out by 30 heavily armed people and linked to organized crime gangs.
He said the attackers arrived in two boats and in vehicles.
Zapata said there were between 1,500 and 2,000 people in the port at the time of the morning shooting.
The attack took place because the fishermen “preferred the safety” of one criminal organization and were targeted by another in retaliation, Zapata added.
In a tweet, the prosecutor said that "seven bodies were found in the artisanal fishing port" in the district of Esmeraldas, and two others in a nearby health center, and taken to the local morgue.< /p>
One of the taxis used to transport the attackers was found abandoned in the port and seized by police, the prosecutor said in another tweet.
The impoverished province of Esmeraldas has been under a state of emergency since March 3 due to high levels of crime and violence.
Ecuador is located between Colombia and Peru, the two largest producers of cocaine in the world, much of which is shipped to the United States and Europe from Ecuadorian ports.
As a result, Ecuador has recently seen an increase in violence and murders related to drug trafficking.
Its murder rate nearly doubled, from 14 per 100,000 citizens in 2021 to 25 a year later.
AFP
Please share this story:
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