6 soldiers killed, 2 wounded by bomb explosion in Mexico cartel bastion

An explosive device killed six soldiers and wounded two others in a western Mexican region wracked by drug cartel violence, an official military report seen by AFP on Wednesday said.

The blast late Tuesday near a town in Michoacan state destroyed the armored vehicle in which the troops were traveling, according to the internal document.

Military planes and helicopters were deployed to help the casualties, it said.

President Claudia Sheinbaum described the deaths as “deplorable” and expressed solidarity with the victims.

Warring criminals in the region have a history of planting improvised landmines and attacking security forces with explosive-laden drones.

Several soldiers have been killed in similar explosions in the past.

Criminal violence, most of it linked to drug trafficking, has claimed around 480,000 lives in Mexico since 2006 and left more than 120,000 people missing.

U.S. President Donald Trump has designated six Mexican drug trafficking groups terrorist organizations, fueling speculation that he might order military strikes against them.

Michoacan, where the deadly bombing took place, has been plagued by violence as a turf war rages between the influential Jalisco New Generation drug cartel and local criminal groups.

Last month, gunmen seized cargo trucks and set them on fire on a highway connecting Mexico City to Guadalajara, before police reported at least 18 similar cases in the neighboring states of Michoacan and Guanajuato. A Michoacan police source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the attacks were a reaction by Jalisco New Generation to a military operation in the area.

Last August, Michoacan’s chief prosecutor confirmed that gunmen linked to drug cartels shot to death seven members of the community police force in the town of Coahuayana.

The influence of cartels has also infiltrated communities in the area. In December, a sign in a town in Michoacan was posted thanking a cartel leader — who has a $15 million bounty on his head in the U.S. — for holiday season presents for children. The message at a Christmas fair thanked Jalisco cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera — better known by his nickname “El Mencho” — for the gifts.