(Culiacán) Fourteen people were murdered on Sunday, a national holiday in Mexico, in the state of Sinaloa (northwest), the scene for a week of armed conflict within the Sinaloa cartel that is terrorizing civilians, according to official data on Monday.
It was not immediately clear whether the latest killings were directly linked to the conflict within the cartel founded by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in the United States.
In total, 39 people have been killed in one week in the state of Sinaloa, including the deaths on Monday of two civilians and a soldier, according to figures from the prosecutor’s office and the regional public security department.
Around thirty people – an estimated 34 – have also been kidnapped amid the rivalry between Joaquin Guzman’s sons and supporters of one of his former lieutenants.
Armed clashes, blocked roads, schools closed Thursday and Friday: the violence affects the million inhabitants of the capital Culiacán, where the festivities of the “cry” of Independence were canceled Sunday evening.
The violence is a consequence of the arrest on July 25 in the United States of capo Ismael Zambada Garcia, alias “El Mayo”, co-founder of the cartel with “El Chapo”.
“El Mayo” was arrested with one of the sons of “El Chapo”, whom he accuses of treason, hence the current violence, according to the governor of Sinaloa.
Separately, eight people were found dead on the side of a road in the northern state of Chihuahua, the local prosecutor’s office reported on Monday.
” Six [des victimes] were found charred and two others showed signs of gunshot wounds,” the statement said.
A man aged around 35 who was shot died while receiving treatment at a local hospital, the prosecutor’s office added.
A “completely burnt out” car was found at the scene with shell casings of different calibres and two weapons, suggesting an armed confrontation.