Drug gang kills 20 in attack in southern Mexico

A drug gang shot to death 20 people, including a mayor and his father, in the mountains of southern Mexico, officials said Thursday. The criminal gang Tequileros are fighting the Familia Michoacana gang in the region.

The Guerrero state security council said a gang of gunmen burst into the town hall in the village of Totolapan Wednesday and opened fire on a meeting the mayor was holding with other officials.

Among the dead were Mayor Conrado Mendoza and his father, Juan Mendoza Acosta, a former mayor of the town. Most of the other victims were believed to be local officials.

Authorities said the criminal groups operating in the area control the distribution of opium, and are also engaged in kidnapping, extortion, and several killings in the region.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obradorhas placed tremendous responsibility on the armed forces rather than civilian police for reining in Mexico's persistently high levels of violence.