Dozens Arrested In Ecuador After Hospital Assault

Muhammad Irfan Published January 22, 2024 | 09:10 AM

Quito, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jan, 2024) Police in violence-plagued Ecuador arrested 68 people Sunday who had attempted to take over a hospital in the country's southwest amid a "war" between drug gangs and the security forces.

The arrests came as Quito agreed with neighboring Andean nations Peru, Colombia and Bolivia to launch a new security network, with the deal reached at an emergency meeting held as the region watches bloodshed spiral in once-peaceful Ecuador.

Police said they also raided a "rehabilitation center" that housed a gang command center and brothel, and where several alleged gang members were hiding.

Ecuadoran authorities have recently closed hundreds of such centers, essentially gang-run clandestine hospitals that officials say do not have proper facilities for patient care.