QUITO – Gunmen killed at least 17 people and injured 11 more in an attack on a bar in Ecuador's coastal Guayas province, the country's attorney general's office said on Monday, saying it was investigating the incident.

The attorney's office said more than 40 pieces of ballistic evidence were recovered at the scene. Images shared by local media showed bodies lying on the ground, some covered in white sheets.

Sunday's attack took place in the town of El Empalme, some 160 km north of the city of Guayaquil, considered among the most dangerous areas in Ecuador as organized criminal groups battle for control of key drug-smuggling routes.

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At the start of last year, Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa declared an "internal armed conflict," but despite state measures, violence has escalated notably in Guayas.

Though Noboa has touted a 15 percent decline in violent deaths last year, according to the interior ministry, the number again surged 47 percent year-on-year in the first six months of 2025, hitting 4,619.

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Last month, Ecuador's national assembly approved a reform that grants the government more legal powers to confront armed groups and dismantle the drug-trafficking networks that fuel their enterprises.