QUITO, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Gunmen disguised as soldiers opened fire inside a pool hall on late Friday in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas in northwestern Ecuador, killing at least seven and wounding three others, local media reported Saturday.

The attackers arrived in a vehicle around 10:30 p.m. local time and shot indiscriminately at the customers in the pool hall located in the Nuevo Amanecer neighborhood, according to local news outlet Primicias.

It was the second mass shooting in a pool hall in the Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas province in less than a month. On Aug. 17, seven people were killed in a similar attack, police said.

Ecuador recorded 4,619 homicides in the first half of 2025, a 47 percent jump from the same period last year and the highest six-month toll in its history, according to the Ecuadorian Organized Crime Observatory.

The country has stepped up its fight against drug trafficking gangs since Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a state of "internal armed conflict" in January 2024 due to an escalation of violence. ■