Security forces kill five during gunfight in northern Mexico
Mexican security forces killed at least five suspected cartel gunmen in a shoot-out on Saturday near the US border, authorities from the northern state of Coahuila said.
The Coahuila attorney general’s office said state security officials shot dead the five during clashes in the town of Villa Union, about 65 kilometres south-west of the border city of Piedras Negras.
At about midday local time, heavy gunfire began ringing out, and a convoy of armed pickup trucks could be seen moving around Villa Union, according to video clips posted by social media users.
Photos of burnt-out vehicles and the Villa Union mayor’s office riddled with bullet holes were also shared online.
The outbreak of violence occurred during a testing week for the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who on Friday said he would not accept foreign intervention to deal with violent criminal gangs.
This week, US President Donald Trump said he planned to designate Mexican cartels as terrorist groups, sparking concerns of Washington trying to intervene unilaterally in Mexico.
US Attorney General William Barr is due to visit the country next week to discuss co-operation over security.
Lopez Obrador took office a year ago pledging to pacify the country after more than a decade of gang-fuelled violence.
Recent security lapses has raised questions about the administration’s strategy.
Criticism has focused on the November 4 massacre of nine women and children of US-Mexican origin, and the release of a son of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.