Security forces clashed with gunmen Monday in one of Mexico's most violent states, killing 10 suspected criminals and wounding three police officers, authorities said.
The shootout happened early in the morning during a joint police and military patrol in the municipality of Yuriria Guanajuatoa central industrial region that is also home to warring drug cartels.
Guanajuato's state security department initially said eight gunmen had been killed, but later said two more bodies were found with gunshot wounds.
“This discovery confirms that 10 members (of the criminal group) have been neutralized,” the report said.
Security personnel used “lawful and proportionate use of force” during the encounter, which left three police officers with non-life-threatening injuries, the statement said.
A dozen firearms, several stolen vehicles and ballistic vests were seized, it added.
More than 450,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since the government sent in troops to fight human trafficking in 2006, according to official figures.
And gang-related violence hasn't abated since Claudia Sheinbaum took office on October 1, becoming the first female president of Mexico.
She ruled out declaring war on the cartels and instead proposed continuing her predecessor's strategy of using social policy to fight crime at its roots and making better use of intelligence.
The recent bloodshed in Guanajuato
Guanajuatoan industrial and agricultural center, has for many years had the highest homicide rate of all 32 Mexican states. The Map of Jaliscol and local Santa Rosa de Lima gang were locked in a long-term struggle for the territory of the state.
Just last month, eight people died and two others were wounded after gunmen drove up to a roadside stand in Guanajuato and opened fire on customers and passersby.
MARIO ARMAS/AFP via Getty Images
On October 4, the bodies of 12 killed policemen were found in all of them traces of torture and messages left by the cartels—were found in various areas of Salamanca, a city in Guanajuato. State prosecutors also said the criminals left messages claiming responsibility for the cartel. There are messages often remains on the victims' bodies by cartels seeking to threaten their competitors or punish behavior they believe violates their rules.
The bodies were found less than 24 hours later armed men attacked the residential center for people suffering from drug addiction in the same municipality, killing four.
In June, six members of one family included an infant and a toddler killed in Guanajuato. In April, he was a candidate for mayor shot in the street in Guanajuato when she began her campaign.
The US State Department is urging Americans to reconsider travel to Guanajuato. “Of particular concern is the high number of homicides in the southern region of the state linked to cartel-related violence,” the department said in a statement. travel advisories.