Mexican Army says troops attacked before clash with townsmen

The Defence Department said Army patrols around the town and a couple of other villages in the western state of Michoacan were attacked on Saturday four times with explosives, homemade armoured cars and gunfire that wounded 10 soldiers.

A day after residents in a Mexican town dominated by a drug cartel claimed soldiers fired on a protest and wounded several people, the Army on January 30 said its troops were attacked.

The Defence Department said Army patrols around the town and a couple of other villages in the western state of Michoacan were attacked on Saturday four times with explosives, homemade armoured cars and gunfire that wounded 10 soldiers.

The Army accused townspeople of acting as the “social base” of the Jalisco drug cartel, which has been trying to make inroads into Michoacan. Soldiers detained six protesters and nine suspected cartel members while confiscating nine rifles and tactical gear with Jalisco cartel logos, the Army said.