MEXICO, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Three soldiers died and three more were wounded during an attack by gunmen in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, authorities announced on Wednesday.
The Ministry of National Defense said the soldiers were attacked on Tuesday night at a ranch named El Pozo, in the municipality of Coyuca de Catalan, after answering an anonymous tip-off that armed men were on the site.
"The soldiers were carrying out reconnaissance when they were attacked with gunfire by an unknown group," said the statement.
The ranch where the attack occurred is owned by the family of Abel Montufar, the mayor of Coyuca de Catalan and a state deputy in Guerrero for the ruling PRI party.
Montufar was shot dead on Tuesday as he campaigned nearby ahead of general elections on July 1.
Gunmen kidnapped him before leaving his body in a vehicle near the town.
Guerrero's security spokesperson, Roberto Alvarez Heredia, said on Wednesday morning that there was no indication linking the two attacks.
"We have no element to link this attack (on the soldiers) with that on...Abel Montufar," he said in an interview with Grupo Formula.
For the last two years, Guerrero has had Mexico's highest homicide rate. This trend has continued in 2018, with a number of ambushes on police and soldiers as well as numerous people being driven out of their homes due to violence.
The government blames the violence on rival gangs fighting to control the production of opiates in the mountains of Guerrero and its transportation to the U.S.
