QUITO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A new committee has been set up to coordinate inter-institutional actions to respond to security emergencies in Ecuador, the government announced on Friday.

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa signed an executive decree on Thursday to create the Crisis Management Committee, the General Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency (Segcom) said in a statement on Friday.

The new high-level management body will be responsible for coordinating and uniting actions among institutions of the executive branch "in moments of security crisis," in order to articulate the response and immediate decision-making, Segcom said.

The executive decree describes security crises as internal or external conflicts such as civil wars, riots and disturbances in prison facilities, as well as insurgencies or foreign invasions and terrorist attacks perpetrated by local or international groups.

Ecuador has been in "a state of emergency" and "internal armed conflict" since January. With these measures, military and police were deployed to the streets and conflict areas to neutralize criminal gangs identified as "terrorists."