At least seventeen people, including a child, were killed when gunmen opened fire on a crowded bar in El Empalme, a town in Ecuador’s Guayas province, as the country continues to battle a wave of escalating violence linked to organised crime.
The attack took place on Sunday night, with heavily armed assailants arriving in two trucks and unleashing gunfire inside the bar using pistols and rifles, according to police.
Authorities confirmed that at least 11 others were injured, while some local reports placed the number of wounded as high as 14. Among the victims was a minor who managed to flee the scene but collapsed and died more than a kilometre away. The attackers also reportedly killed two more people at a separate location.
The prosecutor’s office said more than 40 bullet casings were recovered from the crime scene. Graphic images shared in local media showed lifeless bodies and pools of blood scattered across the bar floor.
Police Chief Oscar Valencia of El Empalme said the gunmen shouted “Active Wolves” during the assault, a phrase, believed to refer to the Los Lobos criminal group, which is locked in a bloody rivalry with Los Choneros over control of drug trafficking routes, extortion networks, kidnapping, and illegal mining.
President Daniel Noboa, who has declared a nationwide state of emergency and ramped up security operations since taking office, has called for broader executive powers and enhanced authority for the military and police. While these moves have drawn criticism from human rights organisations, they remain widely popular among Ecuadorians alarmed by rising crime.
Sunday’s attack is one of the deadliest in Ecuador this year and adds to a growing list of high-profile killings, prison riots, and gang-related violence that have destabilised the country’s security landscape.
The massacre highlights the deepening security crisis in Ecuador, once considered a relatively peaceful nation in the region. In recent years, the country has become a battleground for transnational criminal groups vying for control over strategic drug corridors along the Pacific coast.