An explosion killed two Mexican soldiers second fatal incident this week involving an improvised landmine in a crime-ridden western stateauthorities said Wednesday.
According to El Universal newspaper, soldiers were trying to disable the device when it exploded.
The explosion occurred late Tuesday in Buenavista Michoacanthe public prosecutor’s office said.
A military source who asked not to be named said troops were searching for similar devices believed to have been placed in the area.
On Monday, an explosion caused by another improvised landmine killed two Mexican soldiers and injured five others in the same region. Before the explosionOfficials said soldiers discovered the dismembered bodies of three people.
The device was believed to have been planted by members of a local criminal group waging a turf war with a larger drug cartel, Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla said on Tuesday.
Six other soldiers had been killed by similar improvised devices since late 2018, he said.
Mexico has been plagued by widespread drug-related violence, with more than 450,000 people killed since the government deployed the military to combat human trafficking in 2006, official figures show.
In the only previous detailed report on cartel bombings in August 2023, the Ministry of Defense said at the time that a total of 42 soldiers, police and suspects were injured by IEDs in the first seven and a half months of 2023, compared to 16 in all of 2022.
A total of 556 improvised explosive devices of all types – roadside bombs, drones and car bombs – were found in 2023, the army said in a press release last year.
