The order came after gunmen opened fire in a TV studio and bandits threatened random executions on a second day of terror in the country.
President Daniel Noboa ordered military operations to "neutralize" criminal gangs after gangsters declared war following the prison escape Sunday of one of Ecuador's most powerful narco bosses.
Eight people were killed and three were wounded in attacks in the port city of Guayaquil, and two officers were "viciously murdered by armed criminals" in the nearby town of Nobol, police said Tuesday evening.
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.
After the escape of Jose Adolfo Macias, aka "Fito" – leader of Ecuador's biggest gang Los Choneros – Noboa on Monday declared a countrywide state of emergency and nightly curfew.
Gangs retaliated, taking police officers hostage, setting off explosions in several cities and Tuesday storming a studio of state-owned TC Television in Guayaquil with guns and explosives.
Hooded attackers fired gunshots during a live TC broadcast as a woman could be heard pleading: "Don't shoot, please don't shoot."
The intruders forced the terrified crew onto the ground and a person could be heard screaming as the studio lights went out but the broadcast continued.
Police entered the studio after about 30 minutes of chaos.
AzVision.az
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