Masked men broke onto the set of a public TV channel in Ecuador, waving guns and explosives during a live broadcast on Tuesday.
The armed men, equipped with pistols and what appeared to be sticks of dynamite, entered the set of the TC Television network in the port city of Guayaquil during a live news program. I Image: PolicÃa Nacional del Ecuador Facebook
The president issued a decree declaring that the violence-plagued country had entered an "internal armed conflict," as reported by Gonzalo Solano and Allen Panchana for the Associated Press (AP).
The armed men, equipped with pistols and what appeared to be sticks of dynamite, entered the set of the TC Television network in the port city of Guayaquil during a live news program.
The broadcast reached thousands of homes across the nation, and the intruders shouted about having bombs.
Noises resembling gunshots could be heard. Fortunately, no casualties occurred during the attack, and authorities later announced that all the masked intruders, totaling 13, had been arrested and would be charged with terrorism, according to Manuel Rueda's report for AP.
The authorities have not disclosed who was behind the TV station occupation or a series of recent attacks in the country.
These incidents follow the apparent escapes from prison of two of Ecuador’s most powerful drug gang leaders.
The government has not provided an exact count of the attacks since revealing the escape of gang leader Adolfo MacÃas, alias "Fito," and on Tuesday, officials announced the escape of another gang leader, Fabricio Colón Pico of the Los Lobos group.
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