Cartels Use Car Bomb, Suicide Bomber to Attack Police in Western Mexico
An apparent suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives to a community police station in western Mexico and set it off. The bomb killed the suicide bomber and two other victims, and injured ten others. The suicide car bombing marks an escalation in the way drug cartels are fighting authorities in Mexico.
It is still unclear which cartel was behind this attack. Two prominent criminal organizations, Carteles Unidos and Cartel Jalisco New Generation, are actively fighting for control of this region. Both cartels have already been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the US government.
The attack took place shortly after 11:40 a.m. in front of the Community Police building in Coahuayana, Michoacan, information provided to Breitbart Texas by Mexico’s attorney general’s office showed.
An unidentified man drove a black SUV packed with explosives to the building used by community policing and set it off. The driver died in the explosion, killing two other men and injuring ten other victims.
Local authorities issued a brief statement after the initial explosion, warning the public to avoid the area.
In the aftermath of the explosion, the Mexican army and police used a helicopter to transport some of the survivors to a larger hospital in the state capital of Morelia for emergency medical treatment.
This terrorist attack comes at a time when the Mexican government is promoting its Operation Michoacan, which calls for a large deployment of federal military and police forces aimed at restoring peace to the region. The operation follows several large-scale protests that have taken place in recent weeks following the killing of Carlos Manzo, a local mayor who had gained widespread popularity thanks to his tough stance against drug cartels. As Breitbart Texas reported, a gunman fatally shot Manzo at a public event last month in front of his family.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning Breitbart News Foundation journalist. He co-founded the Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Breitbart senior management. You can follow it Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Breitbart senior management. Follow him on Twitter And Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
