:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/KCWRITTEV5FRNMGOVYNYVXT52I.jpg "Six policemen die in armed attack in northern Mexico")
Six policemen were killed this Sunday while trying to repel the attack of a convoy of armed individuals in the state of Nuevo León, in the north of Mexico authorities reported.
The confrontation occurred around 0300 local time (0800 GMT) when cops of the so-called State Civil Force responded to the attack of heavily armed unknown individuals traveling in about 10 armored vans “and that they outnumbered our companions” informed the Secretary of State Security.
“Unfortunately six elements of our corporation lost their lives in the line of duty”, added the institution in the statement published on its Facebook account.
Other four cops were injured and receive medical attention after the attack that occurred on a highway in the region norte of Nuevo León, bordering the United States. The Security office did not specify if the aggressors belong to any of the violent criminal organizations that operate in that region of Mexico.
The state governor, Samuel García, expressed his condolences to the families of the fallen agents and assured, through his Twitter, that “The full weight of the law will be applied to those responsible for this unfortunate event.” New Lion a prosperous industrial state of the norte of Mexico has been the scene for years of drug cartel activity, with peaks of violence in the early 2010s.
Subsequently, and with the support of various civil actors, including the large companies established in that state, the levels of violence were reduced thanks to the reinforcement and renewal of security corporations such as the so-called Civil Force. However, its proximity to the United States and more violent entities such as Tamaulipas keep it exposed to the actions of drug trafficking organizations such as the Northeast and Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels.
The wave of violence linked to these mafias has claimed the lives of more than 340,000 people in Mexico according to official figures, since the launch in December 2006 of a controversial military offensive to combat them.