Soldiers are on the streets in several cities in Ecuador as the country reels from an unprecedented day of violence.
Masked gunmen stormed a public TV studio during a live broadcast in the city of Guayaquil and bombs were detonated across Ecuador on Tuesday.
More than 130 prison staff are being held hostage by inmates in five jails.
A 60-day state of emergency began on Monday after a notorious gangster vanished from his prison cell.
It is unclear whether the attack on the TV studio in Ecuador's largest city was related to the disappearance of the boss of the Choneros gang, Adolfo Macías Villamar, or Fito, as he is better known.
President Daniel Noboa declared the state of emergency in response to a wave of recent jail riots and escapes from prisons and other acts of violence blamed by authorities on criminal gangs.
He ordered that criminal gangs be "neutralised" and said that an "internal armed conflict" existed within the country.
The government says the violence is a reaction to President Noboa's plan to build a new high security prison for gang leaders.
The president said on Wednesday that Ecuador would begin to deport foreign prisoners, especially Colombians, to reduce the number of inmates.
Meanwhile, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US "strongly condemned" the recent attacks.
