The police also reported that in a city in the Ecuadorian Amazon, an apparently arson fire in a nightclub left at least two people dead and nine injured.
A sector of the people of Quito woke up this Thursday with the alert that a backpack with an alleged explosive device It had been placed in a garbage dump in the Playón de la Marín area, close to a public transport station, although after inspection by anti-explosive units it was ruled out that it was a bomb.
The area, full of commercial premises, was cordoned off while specialized police teams in protective suits were mobilized to confirm or rule out the threat, while people were evacuated to at least a distance of 50 meters. Passenger transportation and pedestrian traffic was temporarily restricted in the area.
The ECU911 video surveillance system alerted that a man had left the suitcase at the most important stop in the area, where thousands of people circulate daily, said Colonel Germán León, head of the central district of Quito.
According to the commander, after the specialized units determined that the suitcase “contained nothing,” the dynamics of the center – where there is a high commercial flow – returned to “normal.”
In the midst of the atmosphere of fear that the country and the city are experiencing, the police chief specified that “we have rethought strategies” such as working in groups of between 10 to 12 technical and operational agents in an effort to guarantee order and citizen security.
Hours later, members of the police anti-bomb team extracted and carried out a controlled detonation of an explosive left on the so-called Guajaló Bridge, south of the capital. In a video published on the account of that institution, the agents in special suits were shown moving away from the site and immediately a powerful explosion that sent the tires used to minimize the shock wave very high.
There were no damages or victims in the area, which has a high vehicular load and is heavily used by heavy transportation, according to authorities.
At least five similar events occurred in various sectors of the capital with the placing of explosives in at least two vehicles, a pedestrian bridge and near a prison, which left no victims or injuries but did cause material damage, as confirmed by the police.
In the Amazonian city of Coca, a fire “caused” in a nightclub by unidentified individuals and which spread to 11 premises left at least two people dead and nine injured, the police confirmed in a chat with journalists. The scourge affected 11 locations, the report added, and noted that a security protocol was activated in the health home to which the injured were transferred. The incident is investigated and those responsible are sought.
Situation in prisons
On Thursday, new incidents also occurred in prisons where, according to the body that controls the penitentiary system, The number of penitentiary agents and administrative servants retained by inmates increased to 178.
In a statement, the National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Adult Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) stated that in the early morning inmates of the Esmeraldas prison fired from the inside against soldiers who were guarding the external perimeter. He added that the public force reacted “to control the situation,” but did not report any victims or injuries.
In the Santo Domingo prison, northwest of Quito, three inmates escaped on Wednesday night and search efforts are underway, the SNAI added.
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AP/DOLORES OCHOA
Expulsion of foreign prisoners
President Daniel Noboa announced that will expel 1,500 foreign prisoners, most from Colombia, Peru and Venezuelawhich has caused concern among its neighboring countries that internally deal with overcrowding in their prisons.
In Peru, overcrowding in prisons is 107%, in Venezuela it exceeds 64% and in Colombia it reaches 24%, according to official figures for each country and the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory.
The idea of send foreigners in prison to their countries of origin was publicly warned by the Ecuadorian president last December as a way to alleviate the prison crisis in Ecuadorwhere riots usually occur.
However, it gained strength this week after the series of violent acts that included kidnappings, explosions, prison riots and the live assault by gunmen on a television studio in Guayaquil. Given the situation, Noboa declared that the country is in “internal armed conflict.”
Noboa told Radio Canela that these are not extraditions, but rather expulsions that would be carried out in accordance with “international agreements” and Ecuadorian law: “foreign prisoners who have an enforceable sentence of five years or more” can be sent in coordination with their country. .
Noboa assured that shipments would begin this week, without providing more details, and added that those from Colombia would be prioritized and then those from other neighboring countries such as Peru and Venezuela, where 90% of the foreign prisoners are from.
They arrest 329 suspected terrorists
On the other hand, the commander of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces, Admiral Jaime Vela, stated that in the last 24 hours the agents detained 329 alleged terrorists linked to criminal organizationswhile five “terrorists” were killed since the declaration of internal armed conflict due to the violence unleashed in the country.
Likewise, the Army rescued 41 people who were kidnapped and recaptured 25 prisoners who had escaped from different prisons in the country, all in more than 280 military operations for which 22,400 military personnel have been deployed nationwide, according to a statement. .
The agents, in turn, seized 61 firearms, 418 ammunition of different calibers, 24 explosive devices, nine boats, 195 vehicles, nearly twenty communication equipment and 23 kilograms of “substances subject to control.”
The order from the Government of Ecuador to establish a state of emergency following the escape from prison of the head of Los Choneros, José Adolfo Macías, alias Fito, unleashed chaos in a country that for years has suffered from an unprecedented increase in insecurity due to the activity of armed groups.
The spiral of violence led President Noboa to declare, under decree, that Ecuador is experiencing an “internal armed conflict.”
Source: With information from AP / Europa Press
