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Army officer killed, soldiers harassed with shovels and brooms

Simon Schatzberg
By Simon Schatzberg
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Citizens harass soldiers on Sunday in Michoacán.
Citizens harass soldiers on Sunday in Michoacán.

There were two violent incidents directed at the military Saturday in Michoacán, one with firearms and another with shovels and brooms.

The first was fatal for army Lt. Colonel Víctor Manuel Maldonado Celis, who was killed in a shootout with armed civilians in San Ángel Zurumucapio in the municipality of Ziracuaretiro.

National Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval González and Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo confirmed the officer’s death and offered condolences to his family in Twitter messages on Sunday.

Later on Saturday, soldiers were attacked with shovels and brooms on the Zamora-Los Reyes highway in the nearby municipality of Los Reyes.

According to local media, the soldiers had detained a suspected criminal lookout who was informing someone about the military’s movements. But angry citizens showed up to defend the arrested man and threatened the soldiers with their makeshift weapons.

A video uploaded to social media showed about 10 soldiers backing up against a tree, pointing their rifles at the ground as the crowd threatens to beat them. At another point, army vehicles were hit with shovels.

Military sources who spoke with the newspaper Milenio said the soldiers were not hurt in the incident, but two vehicles were left with minor damage.

The soldiers decided to release the man they had arrested to prevent a confrontation.

In a similar incident last May, citizens now believed to have been led by members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, detained 14 soldiers and disarmed them in La Huacana.

Source: Milenio (sp)

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