MEXICO CITY (AP) — An attack in a remote community in the southern Mexico state of Guerrero killed at least five people, the Guerrero state prosecutor’s office said late Saturday
A rights group said at least six other people were wounded, but officials said they had not been able to confirm anyone being wounded.
Those killed apparently died in a burned out vehicle, according to investigators’ interviews with residents, but the bodies were removed by locals before agents arrived.
A local human rights organization initially reported Friday that the community of Buenavista de los Hurtado deep in Guerrero’s mountains was attacked the previous day drones and gunmen allegedly from La Familia Michoacana drug cartel.
Six of the wounded made their way to neighboring Tetela del Rio for medical treatment, said Rev. José Filiberto Velázquez, a priest and director of the group, the Minerva Bello Center.
Velázquez arrived in Buenavista with soldiers and agents from the state prosecutor’s office Saturday. He confirmed they found a burned vehicle and shared a video of the burned vehicle with apparent human remains inside. He said locals took the remains away for burial.
The state prosecutor’s office said in its statement that investigators offered to take complaints from victims’ families and perform genetic testing to confirm their identities, but that the offer was declined.
Interviews with residents did not confirm the commission of other crimes such as forced disappearances or of people being wounded in the attack, the statement said.
The statement said the clash was between the La Familia Michoacana and Los Tlacos crime groups.
Velázquez said many members of the community were missing. His group had been warning for months that the community was caught between warring drug gangs.
Guerrero state spokesman René Posselt confirmed there was a clash, but denied it was an attack aimed at the community. He said evidence suggested the violence was a conflict between organized crime groups.
Posselt said authorities were investigating a video that circulated on social media platforms Friday that purported to show Familia Michoacana members and bodies of a rival group known as Los Tlacos.
Velázquez said the conflict between the groups had forced some 80 residents of Buenavista to abandon their homes and move to Tetela del Rio.
Posselt said some 170 soldiers, National Guard troopers, state police officers and state prosecutor’s agents arrived in the area Friday afternoon to begin the investigation.
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