Quito, May 9 (EFE) .- The Embassy of States in Ecuador expressed “its deepest condolences” to the families of the eleven military who died Friday in an armed confrontation against alleged members of the border commands, a dissident group of the demobilized guerrillas of the revolutionary armed forces of Colombia (FARC).
The attack occurred during a military operation against illegal gold mining in the upper Punino River basin, an enclave located between the Amazonian provinces of Napo and Orellana, where this illicit activity that now seeks to control organized crime bands has proliferated in recent years.
A group of the military who participated in the operation was ambushed and attacked with explosives, grenades and rifles, in an action where one of the members of the armed group was also dead, according to the Ecuadorian army in a statement.
The deceased military are Lieutenant José Luis Iza and Jorge Andrade; Sergeant Second Héctor Mullo; The first end Walter Andrango; Los Cabos seconds Diego Lomas, Víctor Vera, Anthony González, Danilo Caiza, Jefferson Alvarado and Georvi Vega; In addition to soldier Marlon Guamushig.
“We sympathize with the Ecuadorian people at this time of grief and support Ecuador in the collective struggle against organized crime. That these brave Ecuadorian soldiers rest in peace,” the US embassy in Quito said in a message on social networks.
For its part, the Ministry of government of Ecuador stated in a statement its regret and dismay of the loss of these eleven military and warned that “the Ecuadorian state will not tolerate that groups linked to ‘narcoterrorism’ and illegal mining continue to attack against institutionality and citizen peace.”
The Ecuadorian executive reiterated that “the sacrifice of these brave soldiers will not be in vain, their legacy drives to redouble efforts.”
Other state institutions have also joined the signs of pain by this attack that occurs within the framework of the state of ‘internal armed conflict’ decreed in the country since 2024 against organized crime by the president, Daniel Noboa, to counteract the escalation of violence that has put the country at the head of Latin America in homicide index.
To do this, he has issued a series of successive states of exception where he has mobilized the Armed Forces to participate with the police in joint operations against criminal structures and to have control of prisons, one of the epicenters of the crisis by being dominated by these groups, cataloged as terrorists by the government.
In recent years, these criminal gangs traditionally dedicated to drug trafficking have also ventured into other illicit businesses such as illegal gold extraction, a very lucrative activity under the historical maximums that currently records the price of this metal. EFE
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