Six police officers were killed and three more were injured in an ambush in Nuevo León on Sunday.
A convoy of 10 armored pickup trucks attacked the state’s Fuerza Civil police unit in Anáhuac, 200 kilometers north of Monterrey near the Tamaulipas border.
The head of the Fuerza Civil in Nuevo León, Gerardo Palacios Pámanes, said the attack was part of a long running battle against a criminal group. “This is not an attack on the state of Nuevo León, but a direct attack on the Fuerza Civil … we had 14 clashes against them and in all of them we’d won … we will continue,” Palacios said.
Palacios added that one of the three injured officers had been discharged from hospital, while the other two were receiving medical attention, but he confirmed their lives were not at risk.
The Fuerza Civil said in a statement that it “reiterates its commitment to protect citizens in Nuevo León and commits to ensuring these acts do not go unpunished.”
Governor Samuel García also emphasized that those responsible would be punished. “My condolences to the families of our colleagues. The full weight of the law will be applied to those responsible for this regrettable act. Right now, all of Nuevo León is with our Fuerza Civil,” García wrote on Twitter.
In his regular morning news conference on Monday, President López Obrador said the group responsible for the attack had been identified and added that they had previously been active in the area.