Ecuador city declares state of emergency amid dramatic rise in gang bombings

Gangs in Guayaquil use increasingly violent tactics in battle for dominance of cocaine trafficking routes to Europe and the US

Ecuador's embattled president, Guillermo Lasso, has declared a fourth state of emergency in the violence-racked city of Guayaquil after a deadly bomb attack killed at least five and injured 17 people.

Ecuador's interior minister, Patricio Carrillo, described Sunday's explosion as a declaration of war on the state" by organised crime in the country's largest city and it has been classified as a terrorist act. Security forces will be mobilised for a month and allowed to make home inspections.