MEXICO CITY (AP) — A small community in Guerrero, a Mexican state plagued by unrelenting cartel violence, was attacked by drones and armed men, a local human rights group told the Associated Press on Friday.
The religious and human rights organization Minerva Bello Center said Thursday’s attack on at least 30 people was carried out by a drug cartel. The center’s director, José Filiberto Velázquez, said the victims were likely killed, though authorities still had not been able to enter the remote community or confirm the deaths.
The community of Helidoro Castillo, on the fringes of Tlacotepec, is caught in an escalating war between the La Familia Michoacana and the Jalisco New Generation cartels.
Velázquez said drone attacks by the cartels and violence have been escalating over the past year. He said he heard from the community around midday Thursday that La Familia Michoacana was launching “explosive devices” from drones. But communications from the community soon went dark.
Later in the night, he heard from local police, who said one survivor of the attack escaped and told them that after the drone attack armed men came to the community as residents were slaughtering a pig and that “they were being mowed down.”
The human rights leader also spoke to locals in nearby communities that said they heard the attack and were terrified the same could happen to them.
“This is a conflict that has many communities terrified,” Velázquez said.
Velázquez said neither human rights groups nor authorities had been able to enter the small town due to its remoteness and the risks. Because of that, little was known about the attack.
Guerrero state prosecutors confirmed there had been a “violent act” in the town and that security forces were investigating the incident. But the office told The Associated Press they couldn’t provide any more information.
Mexico is home to at least 200 cartels and criminal organizations, according to conflict-tracking organization Crisis Group. Rival cartels warring for territory have caused violence to surge in recent years.
Guerrero has become one of the hotspots for conflict, and in October a police chief and 13 officers were ambushed and shot dead in the southern Mexican state.
As researchers report that cartels have practically carved out their own “fiefdoms”, they’ve also grown more bold, warring with drones in other parts of Mexico, pushing into legal industries like the avocado trade, and even constructing their own Wi-Fi networks and forcing locals to pay under the threat of death.
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