A drug cartel has attacked a remote Mexican community with drones and gunmen, rights group says

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A small community in the violence-torn Mexican state of Guerrero was attacked by drones and armed men from a drug cartel, a human rights group told the Associated Press on Friday.

The cartel attacked at least 30 people on Thursday, according to the local religious and human rights organization Minerva Bello Center. José Filiberto Velázquez, the center’s director, said the victims were likely killed, though authorities still had not been able to enter the remote community or confirm the deaths.

The community of Helidoro Castillo, on the fringes of Tlacotepec, is caught in an escalating war between the La Familia Michoacana and the Jalisco New Generation cartels.

Velázquez said drone attacks by the cartels and violence had been escalating over the past year, something they alerted authorities to.

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Velázquez said he heard from the community around midday Thursday that La Familia Michoacana was launching “explosive devices” from drones. But communications from the community soon went dark.

Later in the night, he said he heard from local police, who said one survivor of the attack escaped and told them that after the drone attack armed men came to the community as residents were slaughtering a pig and that “they were being mowed down.”

The human rights leader also spoke to locals in nearby communities that said they heard the attack and were terrified the same could happen to them.

“This is a conflict that has many communities terrified,” Velázquez said.

Velázquez said neither human rights organizations nor authorities had been able to enter the small town both due to its remoteness and the risks. Because of that, little was known about the attack.

The Guerrero state prosecutors office told the Associated Press they couldn’t provide any more information.