New Delhi, March 18 -- Ecuadorian officials said Monday that they have deployed 75,000 soldiers and police officers to four crime-ridden provinces where the government is implementing a nightly curfew banning people from leaving their homes from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Officials said that 253 people were arrested for breaking the curfew, which started Sunday night in Guayas, El Oro, Los Rios and Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas. The curfew is expected to last two weeks. While the orders cover Guayaquil, Ecuador's most populous city, they do not extend to Quito or the touristic Galapagos Islands.

Interior Minister John Reimberg said Monday that Ecuadorian troops used authorized artillery to destroy three identified targets, though he provided no...