'Fake soldiers' kill 12 at cockfight in rural Ecuador

>>QUITO: Criminals dressed in fake military uniforms opened fire on spectators at a cockfight in rural Ecuador, killing 12 unarmed people and wounding several others, police and a victims' advocacy group said Friday.

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Security footage of Thursday night's attack showed a group of at least five men storming the arena and opening fire with automatic weapons on a crowd of dozens in the rural community of La Valencia in northwest Ecuador.

The attackers were dressed in replica military uniforms — a common tactic of criminal gangs in the country, which emerged as a leading transit point over the year as cartels vie for control over cocaine routes that pass through Ecuador's ports.