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MEXICO-CRIME-DRUGS
Five Mexican police officers killed in ambush
OAXACA, Mexico, Nov 9, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – At least five police officers were
killed after they were ambushed in a small community nestled in the highlands
of the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, local authorities reported.
The policemen were attacked late on Friday afternoon, according to the
Secretary of State Security, as they patrolled La Cementera de San Vicente
Coatlan, a community of about 4,000 inhabitants, roughly 80 kilometers from
the state capital.
Five officers were killed and two more were injured, the ministry said in
a statement. The two injured men were taken to a hospital in Oaxaca.
“I condemn the aggression against elements of the State Police in San
Vicente Coatlan and I sympathize with their relatives. I have asked the
prosecutor for an exhaustive investigation,” Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat
wrote on his Twitter account.
The violent events in Oaxaca, the majority linked to organized crime, have
multiplied in recent years. Last August, the mayor of San Jose Estancia
Grande and a state official were killed in an armed attack.
The army was dispatched to fight drug trafficking in 2006, but experts
blame the so-called “drug war” for the spiraling violence between fragmented
cartels and the military, which has lead to more than 250,000 murders.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1505 hrs