Guadalajara -
The news just keeps getting worse for the Mexican state of Guerrero.
Forty-eight hours after disaster befell six Spanish tourists in Acapulco, news services report that an armed commando squad ambushed a local police patrol and killed nine officers Tuesday evening. The attack occurred about 9:30 p.m. near the small town of Tepoztepec, in the municipality of Apaxtla de Castrejón. The area is northeast of Acapulco and south of Mexico City.
Another officer is said to have been gravely wounded. Reports indicate the assailants were armed with "high power weapons," which in this country typically means AK-47s and AR-15s. No one has been arrested in connection with the brazen attack.
A municipality in Mexico is roughly the equivalent of a county in the United States, It usually contains multiple cities or towns.
Police, especially local units called preventivos, are the frequent targets of organized crime and cartel executioners in Mexico's drug war. Often outgunned and under trained, they've been largely replaced by Mexican troops. That strategy was implemented by former president Felipe Calderón and is being closely adhered to by Enrique Peña Nieto.
Security is so poor in many parts of Guerrero that citizens have taken community policing into their own hands, forming local militias. The state government has warned it will not tolerate "self-defense" units, or share legal authority with them. But many say there is no other way to protect themselves and their families from marauding criminals, especially in Guerrero's rugged and remote back country.
Feb. 7 - The governor of Guerrero, Ángel Aguirre Rivero, said today that Tuesday's massacre of the police officers was a reprisal by drug traffickers in the area, who lost a key boss during a gun battle with Mexican troops earlier the same day. Aguirre did not name a particular cartel or gang, but many operate in the region.
Feb. 9 - Four people have died in narco violence in Acapulco in the last 24 hours, including an on-duty city police officer.
Mar. 23 - Seven Federal Police officers executed in Guerrero
Feb. 8 - Serial rapists may be responsible for Acapulco attacks - but do police have the right men?
Feb. 8 - Today could bring arrests in Acapulco rape case, as more disturbing details emerge
Feb. 6 - Two lynched in Edomex, as Mexicans resort to self-help
Feb. 1 - HRW's condemnation of Mexican drug war reveals how little it understands conflict
Attacks against police
Jan. 30 - All the familiar weapons used in latest assassination of Jalisco police chief
Jan. 8 - More attacks on Jalisco police
Dec. 25 - Death toll in Jalisco-Michoacán violence rises to 28, including 14 police officers
Acapulco
Feb. 6 - International press bombards Acapulco: "a death zone"
Feb. 5 - "Image of Acapulco" is on the line, admits its mayor
Feb. 4 - Spanish tourists raped, robbed on Acapulco beach front
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