The violence in the northwestern state of Sinaloa flared up again as authorities reported that shootouts on Wednesday and Thursday left at least nine dead. Authorities on Thursday also found a badly injured man, kidnapped three weeks ago, near a clandestine grave in Culiacán.
The newspaper El Financiero reported that the death toll since Sept. 9 is approaching 100 while more than 100 people have been kidnapped.
A Wednesday night gun battle in Concordia municipality in the southern part of the state left seven dead and two wounded. Then on Thursday, gunmen attacked a National Guard contingent in the town of Siqueros in Mazatlán municipality. The Guard repelled the aggression, killing two of the attackers.
Also Thursday, authorities responded to reports of two separate shootouts, in rural areas north of Mazatlán and south of the state capital of Culiacán.One in the municipality of Elota and the other, on the southern side of Culiacán municipality.
Officials did not provide information regarding victims of the latter two incidents, but did advise the public that spike strips had been reported on the Culiacán-Mazatlán highway. State police authorities said National Guard troops were assisting stranded travelers on the north-bound side of the highway, including passengers in a bus whose tires had blown out after running across the spike strips.
The Wednesday incident occurred in Loberas, a town in the municipality of Concordia about 100 kilometers east of Mazatlán.
#ServicioALaComunidad | Se solicita su colaboración para localizar a las siguientes personas, cuya condición es de desaparecida en las ciudades de Culiacán y Mazatlán. pic.twitter.com/4LwzPfLCkc
— TV Azteca Sinaloa (@AztecaSinaloa) September 27, 2024
More than 100 people have been kidnapped in Sinaloa this month. Many of the victims are young men with no known cartel connections.
State police arrived after the gunfight was over and transported the two wounded gunmen to a hospital in Mazatlán. The officials impounded two vehicles and confiscated two automatic weapons found at the scene.
The newspaper El Financiero reported that several other towns near Loberas have witnessed gun battles in the past few weeks, as factions of the Sinaloa drug cartel continue their internecine warfare.
The cartel infighting turned violent on Sept. 9, nearly seven weeks after Joaquín Guzmán López — a leader of the Los Chapitos faction — allegedly kidnapped Ismael Zambada García — leader of the Los Mayos faction — then flew to New Mexico where both were apprehended by U.S. authorities.
As the clashes continued, the federal government sent an additional 600 soldiers to the state earlier this week. Although the armed confrontations were initially taking place in and around Culiacán, the violence has begun to spread to the rest of the state including Mazatlán municipality, 220 kilometers to the south. Outside of Culiacán, rural areas have been the hardest hit by the cartel infighting.
On Thursday, state officials reported that a security operation in the state capital discovered a clandestine grave site in which three bodies were found. Later that day, the authorities came across a man bound hand and foot showing signs of torture. The unidentified man — reportedly kidnapped three weeks ago — was taken to a hospital where he is being treated.
With reports from El Financiero, Milenio and El Universal
