HAVANA, January 11. /TASS/. Ecuador's military and police have arrested 329 members of criminal gangs and eliminated five others after armed unrest began in the country, Jaime Vela Eraso, head of the armed forces’ Joint Command, said.

"We confiscated 61 weapons of different calibers, 418 rounds of ammunition, 24 explosive devices, we arrested 329 terrorists. Forty-one people were rescued from captivity. We have eliminated five terrorists," he said at the conference broadcast by the Ecuavisa TV channel. The military official pointed out that after clashes with three armed criminal gangs, security forces returned 28 escaped prisoners to jails.

Vela Eraso added that no hostages were killed in the prisons where the riots took place. At least 139 people are being held hostage by armed gangs in Ecuador's prisons, according to official figures.

On January 9, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa signed a decree recognizing the country's "internal armed conflict" and ordered the neutralization of 22 criminal gangs. The announcement followed the hostage-taking of TC Television employees who were broadcasting live from a studio in Guayaquil. Police arrested 13 people and all hostages were released.

The security situation in Ecuador escalated on January 7 after the leader of the Los Choneros criminal gang, nicknamed Fito, escaped from prison. This was followed by riots in several prisons. On January 8, Noboa declared a state of emergency in the country and imposed a curfew.