Mexico Mayor among 18 Killed in Town Hall Massacre
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Gunmen killed a mayor, his father, and 16 other people on Wednesday in Guerrero, a state in southern Mexico, authorities reported.
It happened in broad daylight, according to AFP.
State Attorney General Sandra Luz Valdovinos told Milenio television late Wednesday that 18 people were killed and two were wounded in the town of San Miguel Totolapan. Among the dead were Mayor Conrado Mendoza and his father, a former mayor of the town, she said. Two additional people were wounded, CBSNews reported.
Images from the scene showed a bullet-riddled city hall.
Later Wednesday, in the neighboring state of Morelos, a state lawmaker was shot to death in the city of Cuernavaca, south of Mexico City.
While attacks on public officials aren't uncommon in Mexico, these come at a time when the security strategy of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is being sharply debated. The president has placed tremendous responsibility on the armed forces rather than civilian police for reining in Mexico's persistently high levels of violence.
San Miguel Totolapan is a remote township in Tierra Caliente, which is one of Mexico's most conflict-ridden areas, disputed by multiple drug trafficking gangs.
Press reports said Wednesday's attack was carried out by the Los Tequileros gang, an affiliate of the powerful Jalisco Nueva Generacion drug cartel.