Gunmen in violent Mexican state kill 18, together with city mayor By Reuters

By Uriel Sanchez

ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) -A battle between two rival gangs within the violence-plagued southwestern state of Guerrero left 18 lifeless, together with a mayor and a former mayor, and two extra wounded, Mexican authorities stated on Thursday.

Amongst these shot lifeless in San Miguel Totolapan on Wednesday have been Mayor Conrado Mendoza, his father and former Mayor Juan Mendoza, in addition to different native officers, in line with a press release from the federal government of the state of Guerrero.

“It occurred within the context of a dispute between legal gangs,” Deputy Safety Minister Ricardo Mejia stated, including that organized crime teams La Familia Michoacana and Los Tequileros seemed to be concerned.

Talking at a information convention alongside President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mejia stated an investigation was in course to seek out the perpetrators.

Investigators have been additionally working to confirm a video during which Los Tequileros seem to assert accountability for the killings, he added. Each gangs are concerned in drug smuggling, in addition to extortion and kidnapping. Guerrero is a crucial heroin producing state.

Mexican each day El Common reported earlier that the gunmen appeared to have carried out a coordinated collection of assaults contained in the constructing with the goal of killing the mayor.

Individually, within the central state of Morelos, state lawmaker Gabriela Marin was shot lifeless and her bodyguard wounded exterior a pharmacy late on Wednesday. Mejia stated that he “cannot rule out revenge or one other political motive.”

Lopez Obrador’s presidency has seen report ranges of homicides.

He has been criticized by civil society for handing elevated accountability for home safety to the armed forces, notably by the creation of a Nationwide Guard that has been stacked with navy personnel.

Initially supposed to be a civilian establishment – which changed the Federal Police – the president has moved to put the Nationwide Guard below management of the Military.

The transfer obtained criticism by home adversaries and the United Nations over the militarization of public safety and sparked protests throughout the nation.

Originally published at Irvine News HQ