Organized crime prosecutor in Ecuador's Guayas killed-AG's office

Ecuadorean prosecutor Cesar Suarez, who focused on pursuing organized trans-national crime in Guayas province, one of the country's most violent areas and the site of an on-air attack on a television station last week, has been killed, the attorney general said on Wednesday. Ecuador has suffered a recent burst of violence, including the gunmen interrupting the broadcast at TC Television in Guayaquil, the hostage-taking of more than 200 prison staff, explosions in several cities and the kidnapping of police officers.

Ecuadorean prosecutor Cesar Suarez, who focused on pursuing organized trans-national crime in Guayas province, one of the country's most violent areas and the site of an on-air attack on a television station last week, has been killed, the attorney general said on Wednesday.

Ecuador has suffered a recent burst of violence, including the gunmen interrupting the broadcast at TC Television in Guayaquil, the hostage-taking of more than 200 prison staff, explosions in several cities and the kidnapping of police officers. In response President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency, including a nighttime curfew, and designated 22 criminal groups as terrorist organizations.

"The criminals, the terrorists, will not hold back our commitment to Ecuadorean society," attorney general Diana Salazar said in a video posted to social media. "We call on the forces of order to guarantee the security of those who are carrying out their duties." Her office was conducting a preliminary investigation at the site of the killing, Salazar said, expressing her grief for Suarez's family but giving no further details about the crime.