Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
HEAVILY-ARMED MEN assaulted Mexican federal police units in a carefully planned attack in which 22 people were killed, most of them assailants, in six towns, the government announced Tuesday.
The gunmen concealed themselves in hills above checkpoints in Michoacan state, a western area tormented by drug cartels, and blocked at least four sections of highway before swooping on their targets, wielding grenades.
“So far, we have two federal police killed, 20 presumed criminals shot dead and another 15 people under arrest,” the Interior Ministry’s National Security Council said in a statement.
The attackers were equipped with high-powered rifles and grenades when they struck in the troubled Tierra Caliente region, a hot spot for gang violence, the council added, without stating how many police or gunmen had been wounded.
Promise to keep thousands of troops in area
In May, Mexico’s government promised to keep thousands of troops in Michoacan, which has 4.3 million citizens, until peace is restored.
Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong at the time held a meeting of the national security team in the state capital Morelia with local officials, aimed at tackling a crime wave that led some towns to start vigilante groups.
Officials said 4,000 soldiers and marines and 1,000 federal police were deployed. Osorio Chong also said the forces would leave once security conditions have improved and the state government can hold its own.
Michoacan was the first state to see troops when former president Felipe Calderon decided to deploy tens of thousands of soldiers across the country to crack down on drug cartels in 2006.
But gang violence surged throughout Mexico, leaving 70,000 people dead in its wake when Calderon left office in December, and a powerful new cartel, the Knights Templar, emerged in Michoacan.
‘Closer coordination’ between authorities
Osorio Chong has insisted that the strategy ordered by current President Enrique Pena Nieto will be different than his predecessor’s, with a single command, close coordination between various authorities, greater use of intelligence assets, and an economic development program.
Pena Nieto took office in December vowing to switch the focus toward reducing the level of violence. He has since launched a crime prevention program but he says troops will stay until the murder rate declines.
Fed up with crime, vigilantes have appeared in recent months and clashed with the Knights Templar cartel, notably in Tierra Caliente.
Drug gangs have existed for decades in Michoacan, where they grow marijuana and opium poppies and produce synthetic drugs in makeshift labs before shipping them to the United States.
The call will go unheeded by NRA paid Politicians who wouldn’t even change their minds if it was one of their own kids. Then again no fear of that happening as they go expensive private schools.
@Mick McGuinness: that is so true.
@Mick McGuinness: there are 50 Republicans refusing to agree to any changes and 73 million Americans who are ok with this as they voted for trump and his cult. Clinton brought in some legislation but guess who reversed it…..
@Mick McGuinness: I do reckon that they would change their mind if it was one of their own kids.
@Mick McGuinness: The NRA is no longer in a financial position to pay off politicians-not since 2016 when they went bankrupt.
The second amendment is more influential now and is supported by some of the population.
Raising the age to 21 for semi auto rifles sounds sensible as is for pistols.
There is no reasonable reason for a person to own an automatic rifle. A hunter only needs at most a double barrel shotgun or a single bolt rifle.
@Jason Walsh: unless you’re an American. Or Swiss, as they have the highest ownership of all types of guns with zero gun violence as they are not Americans.
@Paul Furey: The Swiss are a special case. Almost all of those guns are military weapons kept by reserve soldiers it’s just that nearly everyone is a reserve soldier.
Ah Mitch McConnell… “this has nothing to do with essy access to Firemans… its mental health, schools” etc… Jesus wept…utter bollix…
@John Bathe: I’d stop fighting them on the “it’s mental health” point. I would double down on it, agree and then put in rules that block access without significant checks, forced waiting times, forced training etc. Just pretend it is mental health and make it WAY harder for someone to do that again. And to be fair, I can’t see a healthy person going on a rampage.
And I call for myself to win the lotto.
@Brian Henoll: it would actually be reinstating a law they had before that was allowed lapse. After the ban expired sales of assault rifles shot up to levels it was never at. You are letting your ignorance show
@Craic_a_tower: it’s you who’s displaying their ign0rance with your unnecessarily aggressive comment. Quite sad really.
@Fergal McDonagh: yeah somebody making an ignorant joke about the cause of people dying is just innocent fun and I am the bad guy
@Craic_a_tower: Put the shovel down .!
@Craic_a_tower: Put the shovel down..!
@Craic_a_tower: think you are missing the point but have a nice bank holiday weekend.
@Brian Henoll: no you missed what you said as a bad joke for something they did before as if it is not possible. Ignorance
Tougher requirements yes, but the sheer number of weapons in circulation is mental. The pride in gun culture and ownership. Gun shops need to face more stringent legislature, weapon manufacturers need to be brought to heel. And the NRA given a serious financial slap. Isn’t there supposed to be a gun buyback program?
But this is all down to the split in the senate and Mitch the Birch.
On the Twitter there was a thread on families and individuals displaying their vast collection of firearms. As though they are proud that they have enough weaponry to halve the population of their home town. Sick.
Even if he got all of the measures suggested passed (he’ll be lucky to get any but still) it would do nothing to address the culture that makes people think guns are for defence and want them. They are tools for killing which is something few would want to have.
OK there are guns which aren’t powerful enough to kill, they are toys for playing games with.
The first question anyone should have to answer when buying a gun is “What do you intend to kill with this”.
@Steve O’Hara-Smith: If I was forced to live in Detroit tomorrow I’d buy a gun. It’s easy for you to say because the chance of a guy coming into your house looking to rob you and silence witnesses is much less than it is in some parts of the US.
@v39e84kK: I ón the other hand would not, I have no idea how to use one effectively and no desire to learn. Cameras and locks would be my approach there. Here there are five dogs live in the house.
Biden can approve an air strike in The Middle East, or send weapons to Ukraine, but can’t limit the availability of guns in the US itself.
@A Kelly: Yes, the separation of powers in the US largely leaves law making up the congress. That’s a good feature of their government.
Jaysus, you can’t even buy a beer until you are 21 but you can buy an assault rifle. WTF is wrong with that country?
@Handsome McWonderful: the US is so obsessed with “freedom”, they are willing to imprison kids in school so nutters with guns can roam free!
@Handsome McWonderful: the US is so obsessed with “freedom”, they are willing to imprison kids in school so nutters with guns can roam free!
have your say