Drone attack on a prison in Ecuador

A prison in southwest Ecuador has been the target of a drone attack, the latest episode in the

between

in the country's prisons, Ecuadorian authorities announced on Monday (September 13th). .

Read alsoEcuador adopts a liberal turn under the watchful eye of the IMF

The penitentiary in Guayas province

(the establishment)

but did not make any victims, indicated the prison administration (SNAI) on Twitter.

, underlined the SNAI, speaking of a

attack

.

(the attacks)

(security)

of gangs linked to drug trafficking

, explained SNAI director Fausto Cobo, interviewed by local television.

he added.

Ecuadorian prisons have for months been the scene of recurrent violence between rival gangs for the control of drug trafficking, according to the authorities.

In February, simultaneous riots in four major prisons across the country left 79 people dead, some of whom were beheaded.

According to the Ecuadorian ombudsman, 103 murders were committed in the country's prisons in 2020. Between January and August 2021, this violence in the country's prisons has already killed 121 people, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 'Male (CIDH).

Read also Ecuador: State of emergency declared in prisons after riots

Ecuadorian prisons are overcrowded and house 39,000 inmates for 30,000 places. After another riot in July that left 27 prisoners dead, the government replaced the authorities in charge of the country's 65 prisons and declared an emergency in the prison system. He also announced an increase in the number of places in prisons, as part of a plan to restructure the "precarious" and "chaotic" prison system.