New Attack Against a Police Station in Guayaquil

In the early hours of Monday, two people tried to attack a Community Police Station (UPC) in the Bellavista neighborhood in Guayaquil, the capital city of the Guayas province, where several car bombs exploded last week.

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"This morning we woke up with an attack against a UPC," Police Commander Fausto Salinas said, adding that officers had a forceful response and made "legitimate use" of weapons.

Two attackers were injured, he mentioned, commenting that the police continue to carry out operations against criminal groups such as the Chonekillers and the Tiguerones.

"Last week was a difficult and complicated for the country and especially for the National Police, which had to bravely, cautiously, and firmly confront criminal gangs," he said, recalling that six policemen died and 29 people were wounded.

So far the information about what actually happened has not been fully clarified. Local outlets report that the attackers were two marines belonging to the Ecuadorian Armed Forces. Their relatives, however, maintain that the marines were only passing through the place.

This wave of attacks against police stations started last week when authorities began the transfer of over 1,000 prisoners from the Guayaquil Penitentiary to other prisons.

"The response of drug criminals was to try to sow terror in the cities of Guayaquil, Duran, Esmeraldas and Santo Domingo," the Ecuadorian presidency said in a video.