An apparent suicide bomber drove a vehicle full of explosives towards 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 attack using car bombs marks an escalation in the way drug cartels have been fighting authorities in Mexico.
It remains unclear which cartel was behind the attack. Two leading criminal organizations, Carteles Unidos and Cartel Jalisco New Generation, are actively fighting for control of that region. Both cartels have previously been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.
The attack took place shortly after 11:40 a.m. outside of the community police building in Coahuayana, Michoacan, information provided to Breitbart Texas by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office revealed.
An unidentified man drove a black SUV filled with explosives to the building used by the community police and set it off. The driver died in the blast, killing two other men and injuring ten other victims in the process.
Local authorities issued a short statement after the initial blast, warning the public to avoid the area.
In the aftermath of the blast, Mexican military and police forces used a helicopter to fly some of the survivors to a larger hospital in the state capital of Morelia for emergency medical care.
The terror-style attack comes at a time when Mexico’s government has been promoting its operation “Plan Michoacan,” which calls for a large deployment of military and federal police forces aimed at restoring peace to the region. The operation came after several large-scale protests took place in recent weeks following the murder of Carlos Manzo, a local mayor who had gained widespread popularity for his strong stance against drug cartels. As Breitbart Texas reported, a gunman shot and killed Manzo during a public event last month in front of his family.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on 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 Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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