Armed group kills 18 people, including mayor of Guerrero municipality in Mexico

An attack by armed men on the municipal palace and homes in the municipality of San Miguel Totolapan in the Tierra Caliente region of the southern Mexican state of Guerrero killed at least 18 people on Wednesday, including the town’s mayor, prosecutor Sandra Luz Valdovinos confirmed.

“In relation to these events, so far we have 18 confirmed (dead) people and two injured, all of whom are adults,” Valdovinos said in the evening.

In interviews with television media, the prosecutor confirmed that Conrado Mendoza Almeda and his father, Juan Mendoza, were killed in the attack.

She explained that after the attack, which occurred at around 2 pm local time (7:20 pm GMT), investigative and ministerial police officers drove from her office to the scene to launch the appropriate investigation to clarify the facts and find those responsible for the multiple murder.

The Guerrero Public Security Secretariat said in a statement that following the armed attack, land, and air operation was carried out with 100 units of the State Police in coordination with the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena), the National Guard, and the Navy.

The three injured and two victims’ relatives were taken to different hospitals in the state capital, Chilpancingo, for treatment.

Earlier, the Guerrero state government deplored the events and assured us that it would seek to resolve the unfortunate murder of the mayor.

“The institutions that make up the Coordinating Table for the Construction of Peace condemn the acts of violence registered Wednesday in the municipality of San Miguel Totolapan, for which security and judicial measures have been strengthened,” the institution said in its official communication.

Authorities said that Guerrero is a Mexican state affected by the fighting that several local criminal groups have been waging for several years to control illegal activities such as drug production and trafficking.

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