More than 130 Ecuador prison staff held hostage as armed forces target crime gangs

News Snapshot:

Open this photo in gallery: Soldiers patrol outside the government palace during a state of emergency in Quito, Ecuador, on Jan. 9.Dolores Ochoa/The Associated Press More than 130 prison guards and other staff are being held hostage by inmates in at least five prisons around Ecuador, which is reeling from an escalation of violence in recent days. President Daniel Noboa, who took office in November promising to tackle a growing security problem caused by drug trafficking gangs increasingly transporting cocaine through Ecuador, on Tuesday named 22 gangs as terrorist organizations, making them official military targets. The hostage-takings, which began in...