Mexican gunmen assassinated the second mayor in less than two weeks in the violent northeast region of the country as a fight against drug traffickers intensifies.
Marco Antonio Leal Garcia, the mayor of Hidalgo in Tamaulipas state, was killed when his truck was ambushed by the gunmen. His daughter was also injured in the attack.
"This cowardly crime and the condemnable violent events that have recently occurred in this part of the country reinforce the commitment to continue fighting criminal groups with all the resources of the state," President Felipe Calderon's office said in an e-mailed statement.
Tamaulipas has become an epicenter in Mexico's fight against drug traffickers as the Gulf drug cartel battles its former allies, the Zetas, over smuggling routes into the U.S.
Last week, 72 murdered migrants were discovered at a ranch in the state and a car bomb was exploded outside the offices of Grupo Televisa SA, the world's largest Spanish-language broadcaster.
The frontrunner in the state's gubernatorial election was killed less than a week before the July 4 balloting.
In neighboring Nuevo Leon state, Santiago city Mayor Edelmiro Cavazos Leal was assassinated earlier this month.
Violence related to drug gangs and criminal organizations has intensified this year. Mexico has reported more than 28,000 deaths related to organized crime since Calderon took office in 2006.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jens Erik Gould in Mexico City at jgould9@bloomberg.net; Jonathan Levin in Mexico City at jlevin20@bloomberg.net
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