Armed men storm Ecuador TV studio during broadcast

Guayaquil, Ecuador — Masked men broke onto the set of a public television channel in Ecuador waving guns and explosives during a live broadcast Tuesday, and the president issued a decree declaring that the violence-plagued country had entered an “internal armed conflict.”

The men armed with pistols and what looked like sticks of dynamite entered the set of the TC Television network in the port city of Guayaquil during a news program that was airing live in thousands of homes across the nation and shouted that they had bombs. Noises similar to gunshots could be heard in the background. No one was killed in the attack.

Authorities have not said who was behind the television station occupation, or a series of other attacks that have shaken the South American country recently, but they follow the apparent escapes from prison of two of Ecuador’s most powerful drug gang leaders.

Alina Manrique, the head of news for TC Television, said she was in the control room, across from the studio, when the masked men burst into the building. One of them pointed a gun at her head and told her to get on the floor, Manrique said.

The incident was aired live, although the station’s signal was cut off after about 15 minutes. Manrique said some of the assailants ran from the studio and tried to hide when they realized they were surrounded by police.

“I am still in shock” Manrique told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “Everything has collapsed .... All I know is that its time to leave this country and go very far away.”

Ecuador has been rocked by a series of attacks, including the abductions of several police officers, in the wake of a notorious gang leader’s apparent weekend escape from prison. President Daniel Noboa on Monday declared a national state of emergency, a measure that lets authorities suspend people’s rights and mobilize the military in places like prisons.

Shortly after the gunmen stormed the TV station, Noboa issued another decree designating 20 drug trafficking gangs operating in the country as terrorist groups and authorizing Ecuador’s military to “neutralize” them within the bounds of international humanitarian law. It also said the country had entered an internal armed conflict.

CESAR MUNOZ AP PHOTO Police evacuate staff from the TC television channel station after a group of armed men broke onto their set during a live broadcast, in Guayaquil, Ecuador on Tuesday. The country has seen a series of attacks after the government imposed a state of emergency in the wake of the apparent escape of a powerful gang leader from prison.