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Location of the explosion: The attack in the city of Guayaquil also destroyed several houses
Photo: Magdalena Moreira / dpa
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso has declared a state of emergency in the South American country after an explosion in the port city of Guayaquil killed at least five.
"We will not allow organized crime to rule the country," Lasso wrote on Twitter on Sunday (local time).
All security forces will be deployed to restore control of the city.
At least five people were killed in an explosion in southern Guayaquil on Sunday.
Another 16 people were injured, as announced by the risk and civil protection.
Eight houses and two vehicles were also destroyed.
According to the first reports, according to the daily newspaper "El Universo", first shots and then an explosion could be heard.
Connections to criminal gang
Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo said at a press conference that the attack was aimed at a local resident alias Cucaracha.
This and another man with the alias "Júnior" allegedly had connections to the criminal gang "Los Tiguerones".
Carrillo previously wrote on Twitter that the explosives attack was a "declaration of war on the state".
President Lasso had declared a state of emergency in April for the province of Guayas with the capital Guayaquil due to the increasing violence.
There had previously been reports of explosions outside the prison and bomb threats in courthouses.
In a prison near Guayaquil, almost 120 people died in bloody gang fights last year.
Prisons in Ecuador, like elsewhere in Latin America, are overcrowded.
Many prisons are controlled by gangs.
Numerous imprisoned bosses run their criminal organizations from prison.
"The enemy is the drug trade," said Guayas governor Pablo Arosemena.
lmd/dpa