Latest news with #Guayas
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Seventeen killed as gunmen attack bar in Ecuador
A 12-year-old boy was among 17 people killed as gunmen fired into a bar in Ecuador, the latest mass shooting in a country ravaged by drug violence. Ecuador's attorney general's office said 14 others were injured in the attack on Sunday night at La Clínica bar in El Empalme. Police Major Oscar Valencia said the gunmen travelled in two pickup vehicles and "opened fire on everyone" with "pistols and rifles", before firing on another group as they fled the scene. He said the child who was killed had ran for over a kilometre before collapsing and dying from gunshot wounds. Images from the scene published in local media showed several bodies on the street covered in white sheets. Investigators said they found at least 40 pieces of ballistic evidence at the scene. Valencia said witnesses reported the men shouted "active wolves" - a possible reference to a local gang who has vied for control of drug trafficking routes. Guayas has been on the frontline of worsening violence between drug traffickers. A week ago, nine people were killed while playing pool in a bar in the tourist resort of Playas, also in the same Guayas region as the latest shooting. Police said those killed in the earlier incident had been "collateral victims" and not the intended targets. President Daniel Noboa declared war on organised crime last year. Since then, the nation has become one of the most violent in the region, with a homicide rate of 38 per 100,000 people in 2024. In the first five months of 2025, Ecuador recorded 4,051 homicides, according to official figures. According to official sources, nearly three quarters of the world's cocaine production passes through Ecuador. Powerful Ecuador drug lord 'Fito' extradited to US
Al Jazeera
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
At least 17 killed after gunmen storm small-town bar in Ecuador
Gunmen in Ecuador have killed at least 17 people, including a child, in an attack on a bar, the latest incident to underscore the South American nation's challenges with rising violent crime. The country's attorney general said on Monday that more than 40 pieces of ballistic evidence were recovered from the bar in the small town of El Empalme, located about 160 kilometres [100 miles] north of the city of Guayaquil in the coastal province of Guayas. Images shared by Ecuadorian media show bodies and pools of blood across the floor of the bar. Ecuador has reeled from a surge in violent crime over the last several years, which experts say is largely driven by criminal groups sparring over territory and lucrative drug trafficking routes. Police said that groups of gunmen in two trucks opened fire on the bar with pistols and rifles on Sunday night in an attack that also injured at least 11 people, with other reports putting the number as high as 14. One minor hit in the attack ran more than a kilometre before collapsing in the street and dying from his wounds. The news agency AFP reported that the trucks full of men also shot and killed two more people at a different location, and that the men shouted 'Active Wolves!' during the attack on the bar. El Empalme police chief Oscar Valencia said the term was a possible reference to the criminal group Los Lobos, which competes with another group, Los Choneros, for control of drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, and illegal mining operations. Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa has pushed for expanded powers for the executive and state security forces in the name of addressing crime, measures that have mostly won over public support despite concerns over potential abuses.
BBC News
12 hours ago
- BBC News
Seventeen killed as gunmen attack bar in Ecuador
A 12-year-old boy was among 17 people killed as gunmen fired into a bar in Ecuador, the latest mass shooting in a country ravaged by drug attorney general's office said 14 others were injured in the attack on Sunday night at La Clínica bar in El Major Oscar Valencia said the gunmen travelled in two pickup vehicles and "opened fire on everyone" with "pistols and rifles", before firing on another group as they fled the said the child who was killed had ran for over a kilometre before collapsing and dying from gunshot wounds. Images from the scene published in local media showed several bodies on the street covered in white said they found at least 40 pieces of ballistic evidence at the said witnesses reported the men shouted "active wolves" - a possible reference to a local gang who has vied for control of drug trafficking routes. Guayas has been on the frontline of worsening violence between drug traffickers.A week ago, nine people were killed while playing pool in a bar in the tourist resort of Playas, also in the same Guayas region as the latest shooting. Police said those killed in the earlier incident had been "collateral victims" and not the intended Daniel Noboa declared war on organised crime last year. Since then, the nation has become one of the most violent in the region, with a homicide rate of 38 per 100,000 people in the first five months of 2025, Ecuador recorded 4,051 homicides, according to official to official sources, nearly three quarters of the world's cocaine production passes through Ecuador.
Reuters
15 hours ago
- Reuters
Ecuador investigates bar shooting that killed 17
QUITO, July 28 (Reuters) - Ecuador attorney general's office said on Monday it is investigating the killing of 17 people in a bar in the country's coastal Guayas province. The killing took place on Sunday night when individuals fired shots inside of a bar, leaving a further 11 people injured.
BBC News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Nine killed in Ecuador pool hall were 'collateral victims', say police
Police in Ecuador say nine people shot dead by gunmen in a pool hall on Saturday were "collateral victims" and not the intended targets of a premeditated investigations suggest the gunmen were chasing two men on a motorcycle in the town of Playas on one tried to hide in the pool hall, the gunmen burst in and opened fire indiscriminately, killing nine people inside, investigators is the latest shooting where locals have been caught up in spiralling gang violence that has sent Ecuador's murder rate soaring to one of the highest in the region. Local media said the nine were childhood friends who had gathered in Playas, a coastal town in Guayas province, to play pool. "At one point, a person who did not belong to this group of guys snuck in," police Lieutenant Colonel Gem Villacís said. The gunmen arrived in a car and fired at least 80 bullets, investigators said. Lt-Col Villacís said their intended target escaped."It wasn't the group [of friends] the gunmen were after but apparently this individual," the officer said without disclosing the identity of the man in question. The nine dead included a local football coach and the son of a radio presenter. Two other people were injured. Playas has declared a state of emergency and extra police and soldiers have been town is popular with Ecuadorean tourists because of its beaches and seaside location. The province of Guayas, however, is among the worst hit by gang violence. Daniel Noboa, Ecuador's president, declared war on the gangs in January 2024, but preliminary figures show that more than 4,000 people were murdered in the first five months of this year. Read: Tracking the world's major cocaine route to Europe - and why it's growing
