Another prison riot in Ecuador leaves 15 police, soldiers wounded

At least 15 police and soldiers were wounded in the latest prison riot to hit Ecuador, officials said, as the country is gripped by violence blamed on organised crime groups waging a deadly drug war.

The 15 were injured while trying to put down an uprising at the infamous Guayas 1 prison in the southwestern port city of Guayaquil, said Guillermo Rodriguez, director of the SNAI prison authority.

Explosions were heard coming from within the prison until midafternoon, when they ceased. Drones flew overhead.

An unknown number of soldiers also participated, and wounded soldiers were carried out to aid stations set up outside the overcrowded prison, which holds 6,900 inmates.

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

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 obtain guns and explosives, among other contraband.

The murder rate in Ecuador nearly doubled in 2021 to 14 per 100,000 inhabitants.