6 People Killed in Armed Confrontation in Zitlala, Mexico

Six people reportedly died in an armed confrontation at the boundary of the municipality of Zitlala, Guerrero in Mexico on Wednesday.

Proceso said the fatalities included five men and one woman in an Indian village in the municipality where gunmen from the armed group Los Ardillos, headed by Bernardo Ortega Jimenez, opened fire on the victims.

It was added in an El Comercio report that a child was also one of those dead in the fatal clash. Around 12 armed men reportedly came early Wednesday to the small town of Guerrero and intimidated the locals of the place.

The same report claimed that members of a family in Zitlala tried to intervene with the group, thus leading to the confrontation between the two groups.

An El Comercio source, who was identified as an official of the Ministry of Public Security of Guerrero, also revealed that the attackers were armed with heavy weapons, leaving six dead from the Lara family, including a 14-year-old minor.

Providing more details on the incident, Informador said that some of the fatalities who have already been identified by their relatives included the minor Marabel Reynaldo Lara, Tlatempa Andrés Lara, 60, Gerardo Lara Zapotec, 24, and Julian Lara Tlatempa.

The group responsible for the deaths is believed to be a huge criminal group known for their drug dealings. These men, as per El Comercio, left the six individuals for dead in an access road to Zitlala.

Zitlala Mayor Roberto Castro mentioned in the same report that the bodies of the victims are now in an auditorium in the center of the town. The mayor also claimed that they have already requested for augmentation in their security forces, since locals are fearing other similar attacks.

Castro noted that about 50 people already left their homes in the nearby town of Quetzalcoatlán, and moved to Palms, thinking that the attackers will again return to their village.

Entorno Inteligente noted that violent attacks were recorded in the area in the past weeks. On December 20, the director of transit in Zitlala, Filiberto Corraltitlán Yectli, was killed. Four men were also reportedly found dead earlier while they were on their way to Tonalapa.

A day after Christmas, the same report noted that a man was also attacked and killed outside his own home, which was followed by the recovery of a dead body inside a trunk of a taxi in the same town.

Among the reasons for the rise of violence in the area are the drug activities by organized groups, as per El Comercio.