Suspected car bomb explodes in cartel-dominated Mexican city, wounds several National Guard officers
Mexico City (AP): An apparent booby trap or car bomb exploded in a cartel-dominated Mexican city, wounding several officers of Mexico's National Guard, who approached the vehicle to inspect it, authorities confirmed on Thursday.
The National Guard said the explosion occurred late Wednesday in the city of Celaya, in the north-central state of Guanajuato, where the Jalisco and Santa Rosa de Lima drug cartels have been fighting a bloody turf war for years.
The use of a car bomb to intentionally cause law enforcement casualties marks an escalation of the infighting between rival cartels and is reminiscent of a 2010 car bomb blast that killed three people in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez at the height of the 2006-2012 drug war.
The officers were reportedly responding to a report about a car parked with what appeared to be bodies inside. As they approached, the vehicle exploded, sending guard officers flying. There was no immediate information on the condition of the wounded, though at least three suffered considerable injuries that required hospitalisation.
Mexican drug cartels have used improvised explosive devices sporadically over the last two decades. But Guanajuato security analyst David Saucedo said Wednesday's car bomb appeared to constitute a progression into terrorist-style acts.
"These are high-impact actions that seek to create terror in the population and create massive coverage in the media and social media," Saucedo said. "Attacks with car bombs allow gangs to cause casualties among their rivals with no risk. Making such bombs is cheap and low risk."
Saucedo said the blast may also illustrate vulnerabilities in Mexico's quasi-military National Guard, which was created by President Andr s Manuel L pez Obrador to act as the country's main law-enforcement agency.
He said police in Celaya who have seen about a dozen of their colleagues murdered since the beginning of the year tend to approach abandoned cars with much more caution, but on Wednesday National Guard officers "fell into the trap."
Warring drug cartels in the neighbouring state of Michoacan have used bomb-dropping drones and improvised explosive devices on roads for at least two years, and there have been suspicious blasts in Guanajuato before.
In 2022, a forensic examiner and a detective were wounded when an explosive device went off while they were examining a crime scene in Guanajuato. The device appeared to have been a booby trap, though police never confirmed that.
Wednesday's blast came as a massive search continued for 16 state employees kidnapped at gunpoint by suspected drug gang members Tuesday in the southern state of Chiapas.
Relatives of the abducted officers crowded onto highways and streets in Chiapas Thursday to block traffic, demanding they be found and freed.
The kidnapped officers were seen in a video posted on social media Wednesday, in which one of the victims read a statement. The statement said the abductors were demanding the resignation of at least three state police officials, including the second-in-command of the force. One of the cartels operating in Chiapas has accused the police officials of favouring a rival gang.
The Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels have launched a turf battle in the state, which borders Guatemala, for control of its drug and immigrant trafficking.
L pez Obrador said Thursday at his morning press briefing that he was willing to investigate the state police officials whose resignation the gang had demanded but that the gang had to release the abducted officers first.
"The first thing is for them to free the victims without any conditions," L pez Obrador said. "We are going to investigate the conduct of these three officials ... but first they have to release them."
The president has steadily maintained that Mexico's drug cartel violence problem is under control and declining. He has taken a sort of paternalistic, non-confrontational attitude toward the cartels, and on Wednesday said "they had better release them (the abducted police employees). If not, I'm going to tell on them to their fathers and grandfathers."
On Thursday, L pez Obrador briefly spoke about the kidnapping and then launched into a detailed description of his breakfast menu and played a tape of his favourite new song to improve the musical tastes of young people.
The blast in Guanajuato came on the same day that authorities in the border state of Chihuahua reported that eight people had been killed and two burned-out vehicles were found following an apparent drug cartel clash in the town of Guachochi, in a mountainous region near the border with the neighbouring states of Sinaloa and Durango.
The area is known for drug cartel activity and drug production.
#BREAKING #Mexico Mexico: Five National Guard agents were injured by a car bomb in the city of Celaya, Guanajuato last night. This is the latest attack in a wave of violence against police in Guanajuato, the most deadly state for security forces in Mexico. pic.twitter.com/6UiiAxgRrx
— National Independent (@NationalIndNews) June 29, 2023
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
