Ecuadorian security forces conduct operations while prison guards pursue hostages.

QUITO (Reuters) - Military and police operations were carried out across Ecuador on Thursday in response to a wave of violence and the detention of some 180 prison guards and officials by inmates, with the government vowing to wage war against the criminal gangs it blames for the unrest.

The dramatic increase in violence this week -- including the invasion of a TV stationUnexplained explosions in several cities and the kidnapping of police officers appear to be a response to the new president Daniel Noboa's plans to address the dire security situation.

Noboa pledged, among other things, to keep gang leaders imprisoned in new maximum-security prisons. The government is expected to share details about the planned facilities on Thursday. >>> READ MORE: Understand the origins of Ecuador's current security crisis.

Noboa, who took office in November, declared a 60-day state of emergency, sending the military to the streets and designating 22 gangs as terrorist groups, and said on Wednesday that US assistance was expected within days. The 36-year-old president is being supported by the often-controversial National Assembly, which voted unanimously on Wednesday night to support his security efforts so far.

Authorities have released little information about the situation of the 158 prison guards and 20 administrative staff held hostage since Monday in at least seven prisons. "The situation is very worrying; we still don't know what the internal conditions are," said Carlos Ordóñez, vice president of the prison staff association. "No one is going in, no one is going out; we don't have exact information." Ordóñez said the military has taken over the administration of the locations where hostages are being held.

Videos allegedly showing prison staff being subjected to extreme violence, including shootings and hangings, have circulated on social media, although the commander of the Armed Forces, Rear Admiral Jaime Vela, said on Wednesday that no hostages had been killed. Reuters could not immediately verify the videos. "For now, we understand and hope that they are not our peers in the videos... We think they are all still alive," said Ordóñez, adding that his group had filed a habeas corpus petition to try to pressure the government to do more.

There are only about 2.600 prison officers nationwide to manage 32.000 prisoners, not counting those in juvenile detention centers. "We are asking for the release of my colleagues and then better working conditions," said Ordóñez.

The prison agency SNAI said in a statement on Thursday that there had been Disturbances overnight at two prisons and the escape of three inmates from another.Operations to free the hostages were underway, he added.

ACTIVE OPERATIONS - Ecuador borders cocaine-producing Colombia and Peru and has become a major drug trafficking hub. While its neighbors They intensified controls at their borders this week.Ecuador's military conducted raids and seized weapons throughout the country.

Vela said on Wednesday that 329 people, mostly from gangs such as Los Choneros, Los Lobos and Los Tiguerones, have been arrested since the president declared a state of emergency on Monday.

Police officers have also been targeted for kidnapping. Police reported that nine officers had been kidnapped earlier in the week, but it was unknown how many were still in captivity on Thursday. The streets of Quito and Guayaquil remained quieter than usual on Thursday, with school classes being held virtually and many people working from home.

Images of armed men taking over a TV studio belonging to the public broadcaster TC on Tuesday afternoon were broadcast live for about 20 minutes and made headlines around the world. Alina Manrique, a 39-year-old journalist who was among the hostages, said she feared for her life and imagined she would never see her children again.

Being rescued by the police after the gunmen surrendered was like "being reborn," she said. "Their intention is clear to me, so that the whole world can see that they were capable of doing this at two in the afternoon, of attacking a TV channel and bringing 50 journalists, a city, a country to its knees," said Manrique.

Manrique's colleague, José Luis Calderón, told Reuters on Wednesday that the gunmen repeatedly said they were part of La Firma, a gang associated with Los Choneros, one of the gangs identified as a terrorist organization by Noboa. The apparent escape of Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macías from prison over the weekend contributed to Noboa's decision to declare a state of emergency.