QUITO, May 23, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Ecuador declared a state of emergency in
nearly a third of its provinces Wednesday after a surge in violence amid the
government's ongoing "war" on drug gangs.

The measure, which allows for the deployment of soldiers in the street, was
announced for a period of 60 days for seven of the country's 24 provinces,
according to a government decree.

The states of Guayas, El Oro, Santa Elena, Manabi, Los Rios, Sucumbios and
Orellana have seen a recent increase in "acts of systematic violence
perpetrated by organized violence groups, terrorist organizations and non-
state belligerent individuals," said the decree.

President Daniel Noboa had declared a state of emergency in January after a
dangerous narco boss -- Jose Adolfo Macias, alias "Fito" -- escaped from
maximum security detention.

As gangsters set off car bombs, kidnapped police and murdered several people
in response to Noboa's promised crackdown, the president declared the country
to be in a state of "internal armed conflict" and ordered the army to
"neutralize" 22 criminal groups.

The state of emergency expired last month.

Earlier Wednesday, Human Rights Watch urged Noboa to undo the state of
"internal armed conflict" still in place, saying it had opened the door to
rights abuses.

It reported "multiple instances of serious human rights violations committed
by security forces" deployed since it started, also in January.

Long a peaceful haven sandwiched between top cocaine exporters Colombia and
Peru, Ecuador has seen violence explode in recent years as rival gangs with
links to Mexican and Colombian cartels vie for control.

Gang wars have largely played out in the country's prisons, where criminal
leaders such as Fito wield immense control.

The battles have left hundreds of inmates dead since 2021, their bodies often
found dismembered, decapitated or incinerated.