Mexico Mayor Slain in Fourth Such Attack Since August

Updated: Friday, 24 Sep 2010, 7:24 AM PDT
Published : Friday, 24 Sep 2010, 7:24 AM PDT

(AFP) - Gunmen killed the mayor of a town in Mexico's Nuevo Leon state in the fourth assassination of a public official in the country in little over a month, local media reported.

Prisciliano Rodriguez, the mayor of the small town of Doctor Gonzalez, some 20 miles northeast of state capital Monterrey, was killed alongside another person as he drove to his ranch, Mexican media said, citing police reports.

He is the fourth Mexican mayor killed since mid-August, after the death of two others in Nuevo Leon and one in the state of Tamaulipas.

The two border states are part of Mexico's frontline in clashes between drug cartels and violence between traffickers and authorities.

They have also seen an uptick in violence amid a dispute between the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, two formerly allied drug gangs.

In all, at least seven political figures have been murdered this year in Mexico, including a candidate for governor of Tamaulipas, in attacks believed to be linked to organized criminal gangs.

More than 28,000 people have been killed in violence linked to drug trafficking since late 2006, when President Felipe Calderon deployed Mexican troops to try to tackle the brutal cartels.

Copyright 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

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