New trouble for crime-hit Mexican city Irapuato, gunmen kill 10 people including children in new attack
Gunmen massacred ten people, including children, in a brutal nighttime attack on a home in Irapuato, Guanajuato, authorities confirmed Wednesday. The assault occurred Tuesday during a religious gathering, leaving multiple others wounded in what President Claudia Sheinbaum denounced as a "deplorable" act.
Security forces have launched a manhunt for the perpetrators, who fled the scene in a damaged van. The Guanajuato attorney general's office reported victims succumbed to firearm projectiles, with local media noting cartel-style banners were left nearby—a grim signature in Mexico's gang conflicts.
This massacre underscores Guanajuato's grim status as Mexico's deadliest state, where cartel turf wars fueled 3,151 homicides in 2024 alone, over 10% of the national total. The region, though an industrial and tourism hub, is paralyzed by clashes between the Santa Rosa de Lima gang and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), designated a terrorist organization by the US. Mexico's Catholic bishops condemned the violence as evidence of a 'weakening social fabric,' urging cartels to declare a truce after recent attacks on police, addiction rehabilitation centers, and families.
The bloodshed is part of Mexico's broader crisis: approximately 480,000 lives have been lost to cartel violence since 2006, alongside 120,000 disappearances. Despite military crackdowns initiated by former President Felipe Calderón and continued by successors, cartels have fragmented into 20+ ruthless factions, diversifying into oil theft, kidnapping, and human trafficking.
President Sheinbaum now faces calls to overhaul security strategy amid U.S. warnings for travelers to avoid Guanajuato, where cartels control swaths of territory.
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