QUITO, April 15 (NNN-XINHUA) — At least three bomb attacks hit the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil between Thursday night and early Friday morning with no casualties reported, the National Police confirmed Friday.
Although the attacks were “of minor explosive capacity, they generated chaos,” said Police Director of Intelligence General Alain Luna.
The three explosions occurred in Alborada, Pascuales, and downtown areas of the country’s second-most populated city and its industrial center.
The attacks came hours after the U.S. embassy in Ecuador issued a security alert for Guayaquil, stating that it had received information that criminals were possibly planning bombings around the city on Thursday night.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso called on the police to act firmly and use their weapons on Thursday, amid a wave of violence and crime facing the country, which he attributed to organized crime groups linked to drug trafficking.
Earlier this month, the government authorized the possession and carrying of civilian weapons for personal defense, as well as the use of pepper spray to deal with the instability. — NNN-XINHUA