Heavily-armed troops beefed up security in and outside the presidential palace after Thursday’s police uprising threatened to end nearly 5 years of relative stability in Ecuador.

The rebellion was the toughest challenge yet to the leftist Correa, who remains popular for his anti-poverty programs despite a slow recovery from economic crisis in OPEC’s smallest member nation and the world biggest banana exporter.

“We were ambushed, it was a political trap,” Correa said during his weekly address on state television on Saturday, narrating over footage that showed him being physically attacked by police and engulfed in clouds of tear gas.

“These crazy people were politically manipulated. They wanted to kill me,” said Correa, limping with a cane after knee surgery earlier this month. He said one policeman tried to break his already hobbled knee with a truncheon during the mayhem, instead breaking the ankle of a guard who intervened.

After being assaulted, Correa was trapped for hours inside a hospital on Thursday afternoon with police surrounding the building, a standoff that finally ended when troops rescued him in a night raid.

In his show on Saturday, Correa showed TV images of the rescue operation with troops crawling across the ground as volleys of gunfire tracers streaked across the night sky.

“We have to investigate to the very bottom of this,” he said. “We will identify a lot of people (from the video).”

Before the unrest, a government minister had said Correa was considering dissolving Congress and ruling for a period by decree to bypass a deadlocked legislature. Correa did not mention that on Saturday.

The police were angered by moves to cut bonuses and freeze promotions as part of nationwide spending cuts that Correa is trying to push through amid a financial squeeze.

Eight people were killed in unrest across the country. They included an elite guard who was holding onto the side of Correa’s vehicle when it was strafed by bullets as Correa was driven from the hospital during the rescue operation.