International

Ecuador drug violence: six police wounded in prison riot

Photo: Gerardo Menoscal / AFP

| By AFP |

Six police were wounded Thursday in the latest prison riot to hit Ecuador, officials said, as the country is gripped by violence blamed on organized crime groups waging a deadly drug war.

The six were hurt while trying to put down an uprising at the infamous Guayas 1 prison in southwestern port city Guayaquil, police said on Twitter.

A source at the SNAI prison authority who asked not to be named told AFP that the police officers were confronted by inmates with guns and explosives.

Ecuador — once a relatively peaceful neighbor of major cocaine producers Colombia and Peru — has seen a wave of violent crime that authorities blame on turf battles between gangs with ties to Mexican cartels.

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Civilians have increasingly been caught up in the bloodshed that has claimed more than 60 police lives since last year.

Hundreds of inmates have died in Ecuador’s overcrowded prisons since February last year — many beheaded or burned as the gang war is waged also behind bars — especially at Guayas 1.

Widespread corruption among guards allows inmates to lay their hands on guns and explosives, among other contraband.

Following attacks Tuesday in which five police officers and a civilian were killed, President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency and nightly curfews in the western provinces of Guayas, of which Guayaquil is the capital, and Esmeraldas.

Groups armed with weapons including car bombs hit more than 18 targets in the two provinces, including police and gas installations, a clinic — where a civilian was critically wounded — and a bus terminal.

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Prisoners at a facility in Esmeraldas also took hostage eight guards on Tuesday to protest the inmate transfer, but later freed them. In the same city on Monday, two headless bodies were found hanging from a pedestrian bridge.

Tuesday’s attacks were said to be in response to a mass transfer of inmates from the Guayas 1 prison, which is largely in the control of gangs.

Clashes at the prison on Wednesday left two inmates dead and six wounded.

Ecuador has gone from being a drug transit route in recent years to an important distribution center in its own right.

The United States and Europe are the main destinations of drugs from Latin America.

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The murder rate in Ecuador nearly doubled in 2021 to 14 per 100,000 inhabitants, and reached 18 per 100,000 between January and October this year, according to official data.

In 2021, law enforcement seized a record 210 tons of drugs, mostly cocaine. So far this year’s seizures total 160 tons.

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.

International

U.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over opposition to war in Iran

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday that he has resigned from his post, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran.

In a post on X, Kent said he could not, “in good conscience,” support the conflict, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. He also claimed that the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its lobbying influence in Washington.

In a resignation letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent alleged that at the start of the current administration, senior Israeli officials and influential figures in U.S. media carried out a disinformation campaign that undermined the “America First” platform and fostered pro-war sentiment aimed at triggering a conflict with Iran.

Kent further stated that he could not support sending a new generation of Americans to “fight and die in a war that provides no benefit to the American people and does not justify the cost in American lives.”

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed, while 10 others have been seriously wounded and around 200 have sustained minor injuries, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

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International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

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Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”