Peru to deploy troops amid violence in neighbouring Ecuador

Peru's government declared an emergency along its northern border with Ecuador as a surge of violence largely blamed on criminal gangs in the neighbouring nation plays out.

Prime Minister Alberto Otarola announced on Tuesday, noting that the emergency declaration would deploy an unspecified number of army troops to support police forces.

Peru's defence and interior ministers will also travel to the border to coordinate operations, according to the prime minister.

Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa issued a decree earlier on Tuesday classifying 22 gangs as terrorist organisations, shortly after armed assailants took over a TV studio during a live broadcast, in the latest example of escalating lawlessness in the country.

Earlier in the day, Peru's interior minister ordered the "immediate" deployment of police to the border in a bid to boost security.

China halts embassy services

China's embassy and all its consulates in Ecuador will on Wednesday halt services to the public, it said in a statement, as the country exploded in what President Daniel Noboa called an "internal armed conflict".

"The reopening to the public will be announced in due course," the embassy said in a press release in Spanish shared on social media site WeChat.