![Nine dead after attacks on Mexican mayoral candidates](https://www.berlinertageblatt.de/media/shared/articles/06/b2/aa/Nine-dead-after-attacks-on-Mexican--816126.jpg)
-
Coughlin clings to lead at LPGA Canadian Women's Open
-
Trump offers tech sector policy flips ahead of election
-
Spacecraft to swing by Earth, Moon on path to Jupiter
-
What's the fallout of Mexican drug lords' capture?
-
Video game makers see actors as AI 'data,' says union on strike
-
Chinese qualifier Shang to face Thompson in ATP Atlanta semis
-
Concern grows as Venezuela blocks election observers
-
'Massive attack' on French rail threatens more chaos
-
'We did it!': France breathes sigh of relief after Olympics ceremony
-
Blinken, in Laos, set for talks with Chinese foreign minister
-
Regional concern grows as Venezuela blocks vote observers
-
Historic river parade, Dion show-stopper ignite Paris Olympics
-
Rainy Paris Olympic parade dampens many spectators' spirits
-
G20 pledges to work together to tax ultra-rich
-
The one of a kind Paris opening ceremony: five memorable moments
-
Justin Timberlake seeks to dismiss DUI case
-
Warner Brothers Discovery sues NBA over Amazon rights deal
-
Kobe Bryant locker, Maradona jersey up for auction in New York
-
Historic river parade launches Paris Olympics
-
Stocks rise as US inflation data boosts rate cut hopes
-
New York family of Holocaust victim reclaims Nazi-looted art
-
NASA Mars rover captures rock that could hold fossilized microbes
-
Thousands evacuate season's biggest wildfire in northern California
-
Sinaloa Cartel co-founder pleads not guilty after stunning US capture
-
Ethiopia mourns victims of landslide tragedy
-
Lady Gaga adds sparkle to star-studded Olympic show
-
Airbus and Boeing supremacy secure despite turbulence
-
Teams sail down Seine in rain-soaked Olympics opening ceremony
-
Norris hoping for more after topping Belgian practice times
-
West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third Test
-
Trump slams rivals as he meets Netanyahu in Florida
-
Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine
-
Mott's England future uncertain as ECB chief fails to offer support
-
Trump meets Israeli PM Netanyahu in Florida
-
S.African police say 95 Libyans detained at suspected military camp
-
Blinken set for talks with Chinese counterpart in Laos
-
Norris heads Piastri in McLaren one-two at Belgian GP practice
-
G20 seeks common ground on taxing super-rich
-
European medicines watchdog rejects new Alzheimer's drug
-
Harris gets vital Obama backing in battle against Trump
-
Habib, Ebden eye Alcaraz and Djokovic shocks at Olympics tennis
-
Stocks rise as inflation data boosts rate cut hopes
-
Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris opening ceremony
-
Two Sinaloa Cartel leaders face US charges after stunning capture
-
Spain train driver jailed for 2.5 years over deadly 2013 crash
-
Paris poised for Olympic opening ceremony spectacular
-
Judoka fails doping test in first case at Paris Olympics
-
Holder and Da Silva keep England at bay after West Indies collapse
-
Alpine F1 boss Bruno Famin to leave in August
-
Ethiopia declares three days of mourning after landslide tragedy
![Nine dead after attacks on Mexican mayoral candidates](https://www.berlinertageblatt.de/media/shared/articles/06/b2/aa/Nine-dead-after-attacks-on-Mexican--816126.jpg)
Nine dead after attacks on Mexican mayoral candidates
Two attacks against mayoral candidates in Mexico's June elections have left nine people dead in the southern state of Chiapas, the prosecutor's office in the organized crime-plagued region said Sunday.
The two candidates survived, though one was wounded, in the onslaughts Saturday night and early Sunday in the municipalities of Villa Corzo and Mapastepec, it said in a statement.
The attacks marked an escalation of violence in Chiapas against politicians intending to seek office in the June 2 vote, when Mexicans will also elect a new president.
Last week, six people, including a minor and mayoral candidate Lucero Lopez, were killed in an ambush after a campaign rally in the municipality of La Concordia, neighboring Villa Corzo.
More than two dozen politicians have been killed since September last year, according to the NGO Data Civica.
The toll increases to more than 50 people if relatives and other victims of those attacks are counted.
The prosecutor's office said the attack in Villa Corzo targeted a motorcade transporting Mayor Robertony Orozco, who is seeking reelection for the Morena party of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Three people died in the attack, and another later in hospital.
Orozco was shot in both legs, the statement said.
- Cartel rivalry -
In Mapastepec, attackers had targeted the motorcade of mayoral candidate Nicolas Noriega, who escaped unharmed, though five others were killed and two people injured.
Spiraling criminal violence has seen more than 450,000 people murdered in Mexico since the government of then-president Felipe Calderon launched a controversial military offensive against drug cartels in 2006.
The homicide rate has almost tripled to 23 cases per 100,000 inhabitants since then.
Many Mexicans see insecurity as the most urgent challenge for the next government, according to surveys.
Electoral campaigns in Chiapas are often violent, but the situation has deteriorated because of a war being waged between the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels in a region known as La Frailesca, which includes Villa Corzo and La Concordia.
The cartels are fighting over drug trafficking routes and control of other criminal enterprises such as extortion.
Mapastepec is a key strategic area because of its proximity to the Pacific coast.
I.Meyer--BTB