Quito, Jan 4 (IANS): Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has declared a 60-day state of emergency in seven provinces and three municipalities amid escalating internal unrest and armed conflict.

The provinces affected include Guayas, Los Rios, Manabi, Santa Elena, El Oro, Orellana, and Sucumbios, along with the Metropolitan District of Quito, La Troncal, and Camilo Ponce Enriquez.

Noboa cited rising crime rates and the growing presence of organized armed groups as the main reasons for the emergency, which aims to curb violence and support military and police forces deployed to restore public order.

Under the emergency measures, the right to inviolability of the home and correspondence was suspended in the affected regions. A nightly curfew was also imposed in around 20 cantons, Xinhua news agency reported.

Since January 2024, Ecuador has been engaged in an "internal armed conflict" against organised crime groups labeled as "terrorists" by the government.

Last month, nine people were killed in two armed attacks in the country.

The police authorities had on December 6 confirmed discovering six male bodies aged 17-25, all piled together.

Before the police transported the bodies to a forensic centre in the port city of Manta, Manabi, local media reports indicated that some of the bodies were bound and showed gunshot wounds.

Just around that time, three members of the same family were also murdered in the city of Bahia de Caraquez, Sucre canton, Manabi.

Manabi, a key region for drug trafficking on Ecuador's Pacific coast, has seen rising violence in 2024, with numerous crimes linked to organised crime, the police said.

In response, the government deployed police and military to target criminal groups in conflict zones. President Daniel Noboa declared an "internal armed conflict" in January against 22 criminal gangs labelled as "terrorist."