27 Mexican security personnel killed in cartel's retaliation

MEXICO CITY, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Retaliation attacks from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel have left 27 security personnel dead, Mexico's Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar Garcia Harfuch said Monday at a press conference.

Mexican authorities have recorded 27 attacks targeting law enforcement agencies. Among them, six attacks occurred in the western state of Jalisco, which killed 25 members of the National Guard, one prison guard, and one employee of the State Attorney General's Office.

Harfuch said that 30 members of organized crime groups also died in the attacks.

Mexican military forces launched an operation on Sunday and killed the Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias "El Mencho." Members of cartels have set fire to cars and commercial facilities, and blocked roads. Some states closed schools on Monday.

The government has dispatched additional security forces to Jalisco and established a national command center to deal with the situation, he added.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has reaffirmed the administration's promise to national security and the reconstruction of peace.