Ecuador's coastal cities face surge in lethal gun attacks

Three people were killed in separate armed assaults in the city of Esmeraldas on the night of 12 June. Victims included 20‑year‑old Jair Girón Bone, 23‑year‑old Adrián Sánchez, and 45‑year‑old fisherman Edgar Escobar, who was shot after returning from a day's work. The incidents raised the weekly death toll from gun violence in Esmeraldas to five, prompting residents to demand stronger security measures.

In Guayaquil, a series of murders and armed attacks over recent weeks has turned the historic commercial centre into a zone of fear. The latest homicide occurred on 9 June when two teenagers, 14 and 17, were shot dead at the intersection of Avenida del Ejército and Calle Cuenca. A day earlier, a shooting inside a heladería left a foreign national dead and two others wounded. Earlier incidents this year, including a March killing on Avenida 9 de Octubre and a later attack on Avenida Malecón, have compounded the sense of insecurity, driving many long‑time residents to abandon the city centre.