The explosion killed two Mexican soldiers second fatality this week with the participation of a homemade mine in a a crime-ridden western stateauthorities said Wednesday.
According to El Universal newspaper, the soldiers were trying to deactivate the device when it exploded.
The explosion occurred late Tuesday in the city of Buenavista Michoacaninformed the state prosecutor's office.
A military source, who did not want to be named, said troops were searching for similar devices believed to have been planted in the area.
On Monday, an explosion caused by another improvised mine killed two Mexican soldiers and wounded five in the same region. Before the explosionsoldiers discovered the dismembered bodies of three people, officials said.
Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla said on Tuesday that the device was suspected to have been planted by members of a local criminal group at war with a major drug cartel.
Six other soldiers have been killed by similar improvised devices since late 2018, he said.
Mexico has been plagued by widespread drug-related violence that has killed more than 450,000 people since the government sent in the army in 2006 to fight human trafficking, according to official figures.
In the only previous forgery report on cartel explosions In August 2023, the Ministry of Defense said a total of 42 soldiers, police and suspects were injured by IEDs in the first seven and a half months of 2023, compared to 16 in all of 2022.
In total, 556 improvised explosive devices of all types — roadside, drone and car bombs — were found in 2023, the Army reported in news release last year.