Mexico: As many as 18 people including a mayor and his father were killed in the southern Mexico state of Guerrero on Wednesday, authorities said. Speaking to the media State Attorney General Sandra Luz Valdovinos told late Wednesday that the attack happened in San Miguel Totolapan town in the state of Guerrero and 18 people were killed and two were wounded.Also Read – 12 Killed In Mass Shooting At A Bar In Mexico, Second Such Incident In A Month
Later Wednesday, in the neighboring state of Morelos, a state lawmaker was shot to death in the city of Cuernavaca south of Mexico City. Also Read – 14 Killed After Black Hawk Helicopter Crash in Mexico, Likely To Be Linked With Most Wanted Drug Lord's Arrest
While attacks on public officials are not 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. Also Read – Caribbean Storm Gaining Force, Might Hit Central America
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.
In 2016, Totolapan locals fed up with abductions by the local gang “Los Tequileros” kidnapped the gang leader’s mother to leverage the release of others.
In Cuernavaca, Morelos State Attorney General Uriel Carmona said two armed men traveling on a motorcycle fatally shot state Deputy Gabriela Marín as she exited a vehicle.
Local outlets said Marín, a member of the Morelos Progress party, was killed at a pharmacy in Cuernavaca. A person with Marín was reportedly wounded in the attack.
Morelos Gov. Cuauhtémoc Blanco condemned the attack and said via Twitter that security forces were deployed in search of the attackers.
The deaths of Mendoza and Marín brought the number of mayors killed during López Obrador’s administration to 18 and the number of state lawmakers to eight, according to data from Etellekt Consultores.
Mexico’s Congress this week is debating the president’s proposal to extend the military’s policing duties to 2028. Last month, lawmakers approved López Obrador’s push to transfer the ostensibly civilian National Guard to military control.
(With Inputs from AP)