Mexico City Bureau
At least 20 people were reportedly killed in Mexico, as a series of air strikes hit a soup kitchen believed to be owned by the Knights Templar cartel. This is the largest ever reported drone strike in Latin America.
Multiple sources including military officials and eyewitnesses describe how a US drone attacked the soup kitchen and surrounding buildings allegedly housing members of the Knights Templar—Guard of Michoacán cartel. At least 20 – and possibly as many as 35 – were reportedly killed in the attack, including at least 10 civilians. The Bureau regards drone strikes as ‘confirmed’ if they are described as such by three independent sources, such as eyewitnesses, military officials and security sources.
Documents leaked by Wikileaks reveal that the State Department and CIA had recently been allowed by Mexican officials to penetrate Mexican airspace on reconnaissance missions. This escalation of events is alarming. Was this attack approved by the Mexican government? How involved were high level American officials? How far will the US and Mexican government go to stop the cartels and how can both governments secure the safety of civilians? In response to the US’ imperfect history of drone strikes in the Middle East, President Obama said in May 2013: “Before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured.’ He described this as ‘the highest standard that we can set”. Let us hope that these standards will be applied in Mexico as well.
The US has not acknowledged the strikes.
