MEXICO CITY (AP) — An attack on a remote network in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero killed at least five people, the Guerrero state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
A human rights organization said at least six other people were injured, but authorities said they could not verify that there were any injuries.
Those killed apparently died in a burned out vehicle, according to investigators’ interviews with residents, but the bodies were removed by locals before agents arrived.
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A local human rights organization initially reported Friday that the community of Buenavista de los Hurtado deep in Guerrero’s mountains was attacked the previous day drones and gunmen allegedly from La Familia Michoacana drug cartel.
Six of the wounded went to nearby Tetela del Rio for treatment, said the Rev. Jose Filiberto Velazquez, a priest and director of the group, the Minerva Bello Center.
Velazquez arrived in Buenavista on Saturday with prosecutors. He showed that he discovered a burned-out vehicle and shared a video of the burned-out vehicle with visible human remains inside. He said citizens took the remains away to bury them.
The attorney general’s office said in its report that investigators would be offered to record the court cases of the victims’ families and conduct genetic testing to verify their identities, but that offer was rejected.
Interviews with residents did not confirm the commission of other crimes such as forced disappearances or of people being wounded in the attack, the statement said.
He said the clash occurred between the criminal teams La Familia Michoacana and Los Tlacos.
Velazquez said many members of the network were missing. His organization had warned for months that the network was caught between warring drug gangs.
Guerrero state spokesman Rene Posselt confirmed there was a clash, but denied it was an attack aimed at the community. He said evidence suggested the violence was a conflict between organized crime groups.
Posselt said the government was investigating a video that circulated on social media platforms on Friday purporting to show members of the Familia Michoacana and the bodies of a rival organization known as Los Tlacos.
Velázquez said the confrontation between the teams forced about 80 citizens of Buenavista to abandon their homes and move to Tetela del Rio.
Posselt said about 170 soldiers, National Guard troops, state police officers and state prosecutors arrived at the scene Friday afternoon to begin the investigation.
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