Eight Mexican soldiers have been killed in an IED blast, underscoring the brutal nature of combat against the cartels.
The soldiers were members of the elite Special Immediate Reaction Force, also known as FERI, patrolling the Jalisco-Michoacan border in an armored vehicle Wednesday when an improvised explosive device was detonated.
Six died instantly, and two more succumbed to their injuries following the attack, Mexican news outlet El Universal reported.
The patrol was part of an ongoing operation to dismantle operations of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
The explosion is only the most recent in a tragic chain.
In December, two mine blasts in Michoacan claimed four soldiers. A month later, four more men were killed in Jalisco.
Before this week’s blast in Michoacan, the army neutralized 621 IEDs in that region alone.
It’s believed CJNG and other cartels are hiring former Colombian military personnel for their explosives experience, tasking them with creating and planting IEDs to take out rivals or Mexican government forces.
IEDs have been in common use in Mexico for years.
The numbers tell a stark story.
According to The Guardian, IED seizures have surged from almost zero in 2021 to over 1,000 a year since that time.
Violence has become routine in much of Mexico as the government struggles to contain multiple cartels, each armed to the teeth and bristling with sicarios.
Now, IEDs are adding an extra level of anxiety to Mexican forces on the ground.
Landmines are not the only threat soldiers have to worry about. The cartels have now weaponized drones, rigging them with IEDs to drop on unsuspecting people below.
The explosives and forgotten mines cause more trouble for civilians after the fight shifts elsewhere, and several have lost their lives to the devices. Some communities and towns in the area have emptied out in the wake of the violence.
Mexico’s government now faces the challenge of dismantling the cartel’s IED networks in the face of the deadly threat.
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