7 KILLED IN SHOOTOUT AS GUNMEN AMBUSH SOLDIERS IN MEXICO
Five suspected criminals
and two soldiers on saturday has been killed in a shootout after gunmen ambushed a military
unit in southwest Mexico.
The confrontation occurred Friday
afternoon in the community of El Pescado, in a mountainous area of the state of
Guerrero that is difficult to access and the scene of conflicts between
criminal groups.
A military unit "was the target
of an attack by approximately 18 armed civilians aboard two vehicles,"
after which a shootout broke out, according to an army report.
Five gunmen and two soldiers were
killed while two people suffered gunshot wounds.
According to local authorities, the
attackers were likely members of La Familia Michoacana, which was formerly one
of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico but lost much of its influence
after the capture of its leaders.
The cartel has been regrouping and
has been involved in various violent incidents.
According to authorities, La Familia
Michoacana is battling the Los Tequileros criminal group -- an affiliate of the
powerful Jalisco Nueva Generacion drug cartel -- for control of the area where
they engage in drug trafficking, extortion and kidnapping.
In December, three journalists were abducted in a region controlled by Las Familia
Michoacana, and Los Tequileros was allegedly behind an October attack in
Guerrero, which left 18 people dead, including a local mayor.
Guerrero, one of Mexico's poorest
states, has endured years of violence linked to turf wars between drug cartels
fighting for control of marijuana and opium production and drug trafficking.
In January, prosecutors in southern
Guerrero said they found the bodies of five men in a village. Local media
reported the bodies had been hacked up and left in plastic bags.
More than 350,000 people have been
killed across Mexico in a spiral of bloodshed since the government deployed the
army to fight drug cartels in 2006, according to official figures.
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