‘We are at war’: Ecuador’s president vows to crack down on gangs behind week of violence

After criminals storm TV station and take prison guards hostage, Daniel Noboa pledges to stop his country becoming a narco-state

Ecuador's president, Daniel Noboa, has denied that his government is embarking on an indiscriminate campaign to hunt down and kill gang members, as the South American country continues to reel from a week of chaos and deadly violence that he has classified as a war.

In his first interviews since the turmoil began last Monday, Ecuador's 36-year-old leader said he was determined to stop his country becoming a narco-state" and believed the only way to do so was with a hardline crackdown on the organised crime groups bringing terror" to its prison system and streets.