"At least 17 people have been killed in a prison riot in Ecuador, the second deadly prison brawl to hit the country this week. Thursday's fighting broke out in the coastal city of Esmeraldas near the Colombian border. Police reportedly found dead prisoners inside their cellblocks, and images shared on social media and verified by the AFP news agency show victims sprawled on the ground with bare, blood-stained torsos. At least two of them were decapitated."
"Ecuador has a history of deadly prison violence. More than 100 inmates were killed in Guayaquil in 2021 in a riot between rival gangs inside a prison Ecuador's biggest prison massacre and more than 50 were injured. Gang wars have largely played out inside the country's prisons, where about 500 inmates have been killed since February 2021, often in gruesome fashion with their bodies dismembered and burned."
"Last year, gang members took scores of prison guards hostage after the jailbreak of narcotics boss Jose Adolfo Macias, also known as Fito, while allies on the outside detonated bombs and held a television presenter at gunpoint live on air. President Daniel Noboa declared a state of internal armed conflict and ordered the military to take control of the prisons."
A prison riot in Esmeraldas near the Colombian border killed at least 17 people, with victims found inside cellblocks and some decapitated. Verified images showed victims sprawled with bare, blood-stained torsos. Earlier the same week, gang fighting in Machala killed 14 and wounded 14, and prisoners there killed a guard and kidnapped officers. Ecuador's prisons have seen recurrent, brutal gang wars: over 100 inmates died in a 2021 Guayaquil massacre and roughly 500 inmates have been killed since February 2021. Last year guards were taken hostage after the jailbreak of narcotics boss Jose Adolfo Macias, prompting a state of internal armed conflict and military takeover of prisons, though several penitentiaries were later returned to police control.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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