Authorities in Mexico’s southern Oaxaca state are investigating the fatal shooting of the mayor of San Miguel Amatitlan. This is as security forces launched an operation to hunt those responsible.
Jose Bravo died after being shot in an attack in the Mixteca region. Officials added that they were treating the case as a high-impact crime and had opened a formal investigation. The mayor of another Oaxaca town was killed in May.
A statement by Prosecutor’s Office said state investigators and forensic teams were dispatched to the scene after the attack to process evidence and recover the body. The statement added that it was working with federal security officials.
The Mayor of San Miguel Amatitlan, a municipality of nearly 7,000 residents in a region affected by rival drug cartels competing for control of trafficking routes.
Oaxaca Governor Salomon Jara condemned the attack and pledged that those responsible would be brought to justice.
Oaxaca, which is on Mexico’s Pacific coast, has seen growing criminal activity linked to rival drug trafficking organisations, including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel.
The killing adds to a long list of attacks against local officials in Mexico, where nearly 100 mayors have been assassinated since 2006, when drug-related violence escalated sharply following the government’s military campaign against organised crime.