QUITO (AFP) – An Ecuadoran journalist who had reported on murders in a town convulsed by drug violence has himself been killed – shot more than two dozen times, press freedom groups said.
Patricio Aguilar, 54, was ambushed and shot dead inside a house in Fundo Limon, a violent neighbourhood of the town of Quininde, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a statement.
Aguilar was the director of the El Libertador de Quininde community newspaper in the restive Esmeraldas province bordering Colombia, the world’s biggest cocaine producer.
“According to preliminary reports from the national police, gunmen ambushed him inside a residence in the Fundo Limon neighbourhood,” RSF said.
“They shot the journalist multiple times, leaving at least 27 shell casings at the crime scene.”
The non-governmental organisation (NGO) said Aguilar had received threats due to his reporting on crime in the region, where at least five violent deaths have been recorded in recent hours.
He had written about a shooting in Fundo Limon just hours before his own death, and had shared images online of the alleged perpetrators of a robbery at a local business.
RSF and regional press freedom group Fundamedios demanded a full investigation into Aguilar’s death.
