Police in Chihuahua are on high alert after a series of attacks on security forces in the state on the weekend.
Authorities reported on Sunday that there were three attacks in Ciudad Juárez and one in the capital city of Chihuahua, the latter of which was a strike on the security detail of Governor Javier Corral outside his home.
The attacks in Juárez led to one police officer being wounded, while security forces in the capital reported one alleged attacker wounded and two officers injured. One of the officers was hit 12 times but nevertheless was reported to be in stable condition.
Governor Corral and state Attorney General César Augusto Peniche told a press conference on Monday that the attacks were meant as intimidation and vengeance in response to a series of operations that led to the arrests and deaths of members of criminal gangs.
Peniche said that the first operation in the series was carried out in the northwest part of the state and led to the arrest of two people linked to the criminal group known as Los Jaguares, associated with the Sinaloa Cartel.
Another operation led to the arrest of a third person linked to Los Jaguares, as well as the seizure of nearly 3,000 rounds of AR-15 ammunition, 7,936 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 546 .50-caliber cartridges and six magazines.
Another operation in the city of Cuauhtémoc led to the arrest of six presumed members of the criminal group known as La Línea, an armed wing of the Juárez Cartel.
A group of armed men attacked a police station in Chihuahua city just three hours after Monday’s press conference. One officer was wounded and three people were arrested in the attack.
Source: El Universal (sp)
