Seven people, including two police officers, were killed in an ambush as they left the former stronghold of the Knights Templar drug gang in western Mexico. Their vehicles were hit with grenades.
The police convoy was ambushed on Tuesday on a road near Apatzingan in Michoacan State in western Mexico.
Officials said there was a sudden hail of bullets and grenades from dozens of attackers about an hour after midnight, DW reported.
Gunmen opened fire and torched vehicles killing five civilians and two policemen. They returned later to set fire to the vehicles. Five other police officers were wounded and another went missing during the confrontation.
Police and soldiers were searching for the missing officer, according to the state prosecutor’s office.
Apatzingan is a former stronghold of the Knights Templar drug cartel that terrorized Michoacan state for years until farmers formed self-defense militias in 2013. A special government operation was then deployed and the gang’s top leaders were captured.
Police had been at a ranch known as the Fortaleza de Anunaki, a former stronghold and meeting place of the Knights Templar gang which is about half an hour from Apatzingan.
The five-hectare ranch was built for gang leader Nazario Moreno Gonzalez who was killed in January 2014. The ranch was designed for the gang’s relaxation and amusement.
