Shootout in Acapulco Leaves 18 Dead
By REUTERS
ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) — Eighteen people were killed in a shootout between drug gangs and soldiers in the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco, the army said Sunday.
The gun battle, near tourist hotels in the Pacific Ocean resort, was a further blow to Mexico’s tourism industry, already reeling from cancellations by foreigners scared away by the swine flu epidemic.
Gunmen battled troops from a cartel safe house, throwing hand grenades at soldiers who had surrounded them and spraying gunfire into military vehicles and nearby homes. The shooting began late Saturday and ended after midnight.
“There were grenade and rocket explosions, and weapons like AK-47s,” said an employee of a nearby hotel. “The fight lasted almost two hours.”
Sixteen people suspected of being members of the Beltrán Leyva drug gang were killed, as were two soldiers, including a captain.
President Felipe Calderón has staked his presidency on crushing drug gangs, whose turf wars have killed about 2,300 people this year. Some 45,000 troops and federal police officers have been deployed across Mexico.
While the clash was several miles away from the main area of high-rise hotels, a resurgence of violence in Acapulco is bad news for the tourism industry.
Several years ago rival gangs fought over territory in Acapulco, home to about a million people, but the resort has been relatively free of drug violence in recent years. |
