(Quito) At least 455 children and adolescents were violently murdered between January and September in Ecuador, where on Monday four minors, including a baby, were shot dead by armed men, the Ombudsman’s Office announced on Wednesday.
Some “455 minors were murdered between January and September 2023 alone,” the ombudsman’s office said in a statement, pointing to “a particularly serious situation, particularly in the province of Guayas.”
According to the biannual report of the Ecuadorian Organized Crime Observatory, between January 2019 and June 2022, homicides of young people aged 15 to 19 increased by 500% in the country plagued by drug trafficking and criminal gangs.
On Monday, four siblings, Jordana, Briana, Adiel and Aitana, aged 5 months to 7 years, were killed by gunmen who shot at their house in Guasmo Sur, a poor neighborhood in Guayaquil, capital of the province de Guayas and large port on the Pacific Ocean.
Their mother is hospitalized with a guarded prognosis, and according to authorities the attack was supposed to target the neighboring house where explosives were found.
“This incident, which reflects an alarming increase in acts of violence and murders perpetrated by hitmen, highlights the national security emergency,” judges the Office of the Ombudsman, which urges the government to “urgently bring together the necessary resources” to fight organized crime and drug trafficking.
A country that has become a logistics center for shipping cocaine to the United States and Europe, Ecuador reached a record figure of 26 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022. According to experts, this figure could rise this year to 40.