(Acapulco) Two armed attacks left at least 16 dead, including 12 police officers, Monday in two states in southwestern Mexico plagued by violence linked to drug trafficking, according to local authorities.
A police patrol was attacked in the town of Coyuca de Benitez, in Guerrero state, leaving at least 11 people dead, according to the local prosecutor’s office.
Four civilians and a police officer were also killed in another armed attack in the town of Tacambaro in the neighboring state of Michoacan.
These two regions, strategic corridors for drug trafficking along the Pacific coast, are the frequent scene of criminal actions attributed to powerful Mexican cartels.
In Coyuca de Benitez, the attacked patrol was escorting the movement of the local security secretary, Guerrero Assistant State Attorney Alejandro Hernandez said, indicating that according to “preliminary information […] 11 members of the municipal police attacked lost their lives.”
Local press claims that this local security secretary, identified as Alfredo Alonso Lopez, as well as another local official, were also killed.
“We were not aware of any threats against officials” from Coyuca de Benitez, Mr. Hernandez said.
The deputy prosecutor did not provide details on the circumstances of the attack, but local press reported that it was an ambush.
Images circulating on social media show several people in uniform, lying face down on the ground, their hands tied, and seemingly lifeless.
“Pre-election violence”
The attack, in the neighboring state of Michoacan, left five people dead and two injured when gunmen attacked the brother of the mayor of the town of Tacambaro, according to the local prosecutor’s office.
A restaurant employee and a municipal police officer were among the victims, while the mayor’s brother was injured.
In a video posted on social media, armed men are seen opening fire before fleeing in several vehicles.
Mexico has recorded more than 420,000 killings since the launch of a controversial anti-drug military offensive in 2006. Since then, the country’s murder rate has tripled to 25 per 100,000 people.
More than 110,000 disappearances have also been recorded since 1962, most attributed to criminal organizations.
The states of Guerrero and Michoacan are known to be among the most violent due to the struggle between rival drug gangs and security forces.
Guerrero, home to the famous seaside resort of Acapulco, is one of the poorest states in Mexico.
Violence against local officials often intensifies as election periods approach, but in 2024 the presidential and legislative elections will be held.
“Guerrero has long experienced one of Mexico’s most complicated armed conflicts, but the current levels of pre-election violence are extraordinary,” Falko Ernst, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, told the X network.