The violence in Mexico is forcing between 800 and 1,000 families to flee their homes
Between 800 and 1,000 families have been forced to flee their homes in the mountains of central Mexico as gangs attacked them with improvised explosive devices launched by drones and powerful weapons, civil and human rights groups said on Sunday.
A wave of violence in the conflict-ridden state of Guerrero began on Wednesday when a powerful group known as Los Ardillos began brutal attacks on communities in the mountainous countryside.
Thousands of people – including children and the elderly – were forced to flee in the days after what they say are years of escalating attacks.
At least one person was injured, said the representative organization, People’s Indigenous Council of Guerrero – Emiliano Zapata (CIPOG-EZ).
Videos show families fleeing their homes early Sunday morning – Mother’s Day – in the dark with nothing but backpacks.
Other images shared with the Associated Press show heavy gunfire exploding on farms and explosives-laden airplanes parked in the brush.
“These have been days of fear,” said Marina Velasco, CIPOG-EZ representative. “They were bombing communities with drones, and how can one protect oneself from a drone, and bombs falling from the sky.”
Community groups and local religious organizations say Los Ardillos have sought to take over the land for years in their territorial war with the dispersal of other criminal groups.
Velasco said families fled to nearby towns, where many took refuge in the football field. Velasco said that although there are a number of state actors, communities like these have been “abandoned” by Mexican forces when they are facing attacks by criminal groups.
Mexico’s federal government and local state authorities in Guerrero did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The organization CIPOG-EZ has documented 76 people in the region who have been killed in clashes with this group in recent years, and 25 others who have gone missing.
For years cartels have used drones and sophisticated weaponry to fight, a sign of how entrenched the conflict is in regions like Guerrero, where cartels have split into rival factions.
Increasingly, communities have taken up arms themselves to fight groups like Los Ardillos.
The bloodshed comes as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has come down harder on the cartels than her predecessor as she faces mounting pressure from President Donald Trump, who has threatened military action against the cartels, which Sheinbaum called “unnecessary.”
Sheinbaum’s crackdown has led to a sharp increase in the number of murders – about 40% – since he took office, a number the government has been bragging about despite being hit by several scandals in recent weeks.
