At least 5 dead in armed attack in Ecuador's coastal city

QUITO, April 21 (Xinhua) -- At least five people died and six others were injured in an armed attack Sunday night in west Ecuador's coastal city of Manta, local police said Monday.

The attack occurred around 11 p.m. Sunday local time when men armed with rifles and handguns fired at a home where a family gathering was taking place in Manta, in the western province of Manabi.

Jose Erazo, head of Manta police, told the local press that the deceased were four men and an eight-year-old girl.

"One of the dead was a Colombian national who had a criminal record in the neighboring country," Erazo said.

Erazo said videos from security cameras showed that at least six attackers aboard two vehicles and a motorcycle entered the housing complex, and suggested that the attack could be due to a dispute between two criminal organizations.

Manabi is one of the most violent provinces in Ecuador, according to police, who attribute the violence to the presence of criminal gangs vying for control of territories for illicit activities. ■