Seven dead in shootout Gunmen ambushed soldiers in Mexico

At least five suspected criminals and two soldiers were killed in a shootout after gunmen ambushed military units in southwestern Mexico, officials reported Saturday.

The confrontation erupted Friday afternoon in the community of El Pescado, the site of a conflict between criminal groups, in the difficult-to-access mountainous region of Guerrero state.

According to military reports, military units were “targeted by an attack by approximately 18 armed civilians in two vehicles”, after which a shootout broke out.

Five shooters and two soldiers were killed and two had gunshot wounds.

Local officials said the attackers were likely members of La Familia Michoacana, one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels, but lost much of its influence after the incident. Capturing its leader.

Cartels have been reorganized and are involved in various violent incidents.

According to officials, La Familia Michoacana is affiliated with the powerful Jalisco Nueva Generación drug cartel, the Los Tequirreros criminal group, and its control of the area where they are involved in drug trafficking, extortion and kidnapping. are fighting over

In December, three journalists kidnapped Los Tequileros is said to have been behind the October attacks in Guerrero, in an area controlled by Las Familia Michoacana. 18 people diedincluding the local mayor.

One of Mexico’s poorest states, Guerrero has endured years of violence linked to turf wars between drug cartels over control of marijuana and opium production and drug trafficking.

In January, prosecutors in southern Guerrero said: five corpses in the village. Local media reported that the body had been hacked and left in a plastic bag.

According to official figures, more than 350,000 people have been killed in bloodshed across Mexico since the government sent troops to fight drug cartels in 2006.