STUDIO AMBUSH
Masked gang storm TV studio waving guns and bombs after drug kingpin’s jail escape sparks state of emergency in Ecuador
It follows a string of attacks after President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency
HOODED gunmen hijacked a live TV broadcast in Ecuador after a drug kingpin escaped from jail.
Live footage broadcast from Ecuador's TC station in Guayaquil showed the masked gang waving guns and bombs while threatening people.
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Shots could be heard as some of the gunmen told staff members to lie on the ground.
Members of the group were also seen pointing at the cameras and shouting "no police", before the live feed was cut.
Another gunman was reportedly heard saying: "We are on the air so that they know we do not play with the mafia."
One of the hooded brutes was even alleged to have left a stick of dynamite in the TV station's reception area.
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Specialised police units from both Quito and Guayaquil were quickly deployed to the scene.
They have since shared footage of blood on the floor of the television studio, alongside images of some of the arrests that were made.
Police commander Csar Zapata told TV channel Teleamazonas that officers seized guns and explosives carried by the gunmen.
He didn't confirm how many people were arrested.
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But Cmdr Zapata did say that the violence ordeal should be considered as a terrorist act.
Armed men also entered the University of Guayaquil, attempting to kidnap students, and Teodoro Maldonado hospital, where they have been attempting to kidnap doctors.
Shots have been heard in both locations, and an evacuation order has been issued at the Carondelet presidential complex and surrounding areas in Quito due to safety concerns.
The Ecuadorian Labor Ministry also ordered employees to work from home.
The shocking incidents come just a day after Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, 36, declared a state of emergency after notorious drug kingpin Adolfo Macias, 44, escaped from a maximum security jail on Sunday.
The leader of Los Choneros, an Ecuadorian gang with links to Mexico's infamous Sinaloa cartel, had been serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking and murder.
Authorities deem Los Choneros responsible for the spike in violence over the last year - and oversaw the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
The current whereabouts of Macias remains unclear, however, but two prison guards have had charges filed against them following his escape.
Following President Noboa's state of emergency announcement on Monday, several police officers were kidnapped and a series of explosions were set off across the country.
A chilling video circulating on social media showed three of the kidnapped officers sitting on the ground with a gun pointed at them as one is forced to read a statement addressed to Noboa.
"You declared war, you will get war," reads the terrified officer.
"You declared a state of emergency. We declare police, civilians and soldiers to be the spoils of war."
The statement added that anyone found on the street after 11pm (5am GMT) "will be executed."
Ecuador's security situation has now deteriorated to the point where President Noboa has declared the existence of an "internal armed conflict" in the South American country.
The army has now been ordered onto the street to battle the "civil war" with cartel thugs.
The presidency and metro stations in Quito, Ecuador's capital, were under military guard on Tuesday.
In his statement, Noboa provided a decree for the direct intervention of the Armed Forces.
“I have just signed the state of exception decree so that the Armed Forces have all the political and legal support in their actions,” Noboa said.
The US State Department said it was "extremely concerned" by the violence.
The UK Foreign Office warned against all but essential travel to parts of the country.
Tuesday's TV studio raid is being blamed on another gang called Los Tiguerones - linked to last months kidnapping of British millionaire businessman Colin Armstrong.
The 78-year-old former honorary consul for Guayaquil, president of Ecuadorian agricultural distribution firm Agripac, was released on December 20 last year.
He had been taken hostage four days earlier with his Colombian girlfriend Katherine Paola Santos after being snatched from a farm he owned.
Nine suspects were subsequently arrested.
Noboa was elected in October on the promise to crack down on violent crime and has vowed to take back control of the country's prisons and streets.
His updated state of emergency has recognised several criminal gangs, like Los Choneros, as terrorist groups, and has ordered the armed forces to quell them.
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The decree has allowed Noboa to set a national curfew, from 11pm to 5am, which he has coupled with military patrols - on the streets and inside prisons.
He has adamantly stated that he will not negotiate with "terrorists", that he won't stop until he brings back peace to all Ecuadorians, and that his government had decided to confront crime.
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