(Mexico City) At least 11 people were killed Friday in a town in central Mexico, authorities said, during a violent clash between villagers and criminals who sought to extort money from them, according to local media.
During the violent clashes, which took place in the municipality of Texcaltitlan (State of Mexico), “a group of eight people were killed, probably as part of criminal activities, as well as three residents of the locality”, a said the State Security Secretariat in a press release.
According to the Mexican press, the criminals are members of the criminal group La Familia Michoacana, who went to a farming village in Texcaltitlan to extort money from residents. The latter organized themselves to come and meet them and confront them.
A video relayed by several local media shows the moment preceding the confrontation, when around fifty villagers gathered on a sports field and insulted around ten people armed with assault rifles.
Suddenly, gunshots ring out, some people fall and the villagers rush towards the criminals, hitting them with fists, sticks and apparently knives.
Since the launch of a controversial military anti-drug offensive in 2006, the country’s murder rate has tripled to 25 per 100,000 people.
Mexico has recorded more than 420,000 murders since the launch of this military offensive.