QUITO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso Friday delivered 15 Turkish-built Otokar armored tactical vehicles to the armed forces to help fight organized crime and violence.
The armored vehicles, each of which can accommodate nine soldiers, "have greater ballistic and mine protection. They also have technical characteristics for entering places that are difficult to access and highly dangerous in urban and rural settings," Lasso said during the handover at Mariscal Sucre Air Base here.
The vehicles delivered to the army were part of the process of strengthening the operational capabilities of the Armed Forces, said the president, who has declared a frontal attack on drug trafficking, which has recently plagued the South American country.
"Today I am pleased to say that I leave an army, an air force and a navy with better technical and operational capabilities," said Lasso, speaking just days before his term ends on Wednesday and is to be succeeded by president-elect Daniel Noboa.
His government invested 430 million U.S. dollars in the new military hardware, he added. ■
