Gunfire and a subsequent explosion left at least 5 people dead, 15 injured and several others missing in the Ecuadorian port city.
Sunday’s blast damaged homes in Guayaquil, authorities said. On its Twitter account, Ecuador’s Prosecutor’s Office said agents were gathering evidence to determine the cause and motive of the attack in the Cristo del Consuelo neighborhood.
Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo tweeted that organized crime in Ecuador is attacking.
“Sunday’s violence is a declaration of war against the state. Either we unite to face it or the price will be even higher for society”, he wrote.
In Guayaquil, 270 kilometers southwest of the capital Quito, there have been frequent shootings and killings by members of rival gangs believed to be linked to national and international drug trafficking.
Dozens were killed last year in massacres inside the city’s largest state prison.