A local security secretary and 12 police officers were shot dead in Guerrero state Monday, authorities said, the worst episode in a day of violence across southwestern Mexico that killed at least 19 people.
Eleven people were initially reported killed in the attack in El Papayo, which is in the Guerrero township of Coyuca de Benítez on the Pacific Coast.
Hours later, the state prosecutor’s office said two more police officers had died.
The secretary for security of Coyuca de Benítez was among those slain, said Gabriel Hernández Mendoza, state deputy prosecutor for investigations. He gave no further details.
Officials are finding themselves increasingly endangered in the region, where several powerful drug cartels continue to fight for control.
In separate events, another person was slain in the Guerrero state capital and five people, including a police officer, were killed in the neighboring state of Michoacan, officials said.
According to figures from Common Cause, 341 police officers have been killed in Mexico so far this year. In 2022, at least 403 were slain.
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