Mexican troops shot dead 19 suspected members of the Sinaloa cartel after they came under attack in the northwestern state, the ministry of defense said Tuesday.
Military personnel were attacked on Monday by more than 30 people near the state capital Culiacan, and the ensuing firefight left 19 cartel members dead, the ministry said in a statement.
Sinaloa has seen a surge in violence since the July arrest of the cartel’s co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in the United States.
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The ministry of defense said the cartel members killed on Monday were presumed to be linked to Zambada’s faction.
The cartels have a long and storied history of not just employing former soldiers, but even being formed by former soldiers.
But yes, if this was really 19 KIA narcos, and zero casualties for Mexican military, there was clearly some lopsided aspect to the engagement. Whether it was luck, training, or tactical competence, I don’t know.
Part of me is envisioning the narcos were all relatively close together and attacked some military convoy or vehicle that either had an M2 mounted, or armored vehicles with gun slits, and they just got mowed down.