MEXICO CITY (AP) — Relatives on Monday buried the mayor of a state capital in southern Mexico who was killed just one week after he took office.
Photos of the crime scene shared on social media showed Mayor Alejandro Arcos’ severed head had been left on the roof of a pickup truck. Authorities did not immediately confirm the authenticity of the images, but at his funeral, there were signs his head had been reattached by forensic examiners or mortuary staff.
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Supporters of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos throw flowers during his funeral service, one week after he took office, in Chilpancingo, Guerrero state, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
Relatives of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos cry during his funeral service, one week after he took office, in Chilpancingo, Guerrero state, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
Relatives of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos carry his coffin during his funeral service, one week after he took office, in Chilpancingo, Guerrero state, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
Supporters of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos attend his funeral Mass one week after he took office, in Chilpancingo, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
A supporter of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos prays at the entrance of the municipal building one week after he took office in Chilpancingo, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
Supporters of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos attend his funeral Mass one week after he took office, in Chilpancingo, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
Supporters of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos place candles and flowers at the entrance of the municipal building one week after he took office in Chilpancingo, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
Arcos was sworn in last Monday as mayor of Chilpancingo, a city so violent that a drug gang openly staged a demonstration, hijacked a government armored car and took police hostage in 2023 to win the release of arrested suspects.
Chilpancingo is the capital of Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located.
Arcos had said in an interview with local media shortly before his death that he wanted extra protection, but it was not clear if any formal request for that had been made to state officials.
The state prosecutors’ office issued a statement Sunday confirming Arcos had been killed, but provided no details.
Alejandro Moreno, the national leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, lamented Arcos' killing and said Monday “we will not allow his death to go unpunished.” A few days before Arcos' death, the newly installed secretary of the city council had also been murdered.
“They had been in office less than a week,” Moreno wrote on his social media accounts. “They were young and honest public servants who were seeking progress for their community.”
Chilpancingo has long been the scene of bloody turf battles between two drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos. The battle has resulted in dozens of gruesome killings and some high-profile scandals.
A previous mayor was caught on video apparently holding a meeting with leaders of one of the gangs at a restaurant. She was subsequently expelled from her party.
In July 2023, federal officials said a demonstration held by hundreds of people in Chilpancingo that month had been organized by the Ardillos gang to win the release of two gang leaders arrested for drugs and weapons possession.
The demonstrators largely blocked all traffic on the highway between Mexico City and Acapulco for two days, battled security forces and commandeered a police armored truck and used it to ram down the gates of the state legislature building.
The demonstrators abducted 10 members of the state police and National Guard, as well as three state and federal officials, and held them hostage to enforce their demands before releasing them.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Supporters of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos throw flowers during his funeral service, one week after he took office, in Chilpancingo, Guerrero state, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
Relatives of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos cry during his funeral service, one week after he took office, in Chilpancingo, Guerrero state, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
Relatives of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos carry his coffin during his funeral service, one week after he took office, in Chilpancingo, Guerrero state, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
Supporters of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos attend his funeral Mass one week after he took office, in Chilpancingo, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
A supporter of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos prays at the entrance of the municipal building one week after he took office in Chilpancingo, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
Supporters of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos attend his funeral Mass one week after he took office, in Chilpancingo, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
Supporters of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos place candles and flowers at the entrance of the municipal building one week after he took office in Chilpancingo, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people injured by shattered glass, the Israeli military said Saturday, days after Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi rebels who have been launching missiles in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Another 14 people sustained minor injuries as they rushed to shelters when air raid sirens sounded before dawn Saturday, the military said.
The Houthis issued a statement on Telegram saying they had aimed a hypersonic ballistic missile at a military target, which they did not identify.
“A flash of light, a blow and we fell to the ground. Big mess, broken glasses all over the place,” said Bar Katz, a resident of a damaged building.
The attack came after Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, and port city of Hodeida killed at least nine people Thursday. The Israeli strikes were in response to a Houthi long-range missile that hit an Israeli school building. The Houthis also claimed a drone strike targeting an unspecified military target in central Israel on Thursday.
Israel's military says the Iran-backed Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and drones during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Houthis have also attacked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and say they won’t stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Israeli strikes Thursday caused “considerable damage” to the Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports that will lead to the "immediate and significant reduction in port capacity,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The Hodeida port has been key for food shipments into Yemen in its decade-long civil war.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said both sides’ attacks risk further escalation in the region.
Mourners in Gaza held funerals for 19 people — 12 of them children — killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and overnight.
One strike hit a residential building in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least seven Palestinians, including five children and one woman, and injuring 16 others, health officials said.
In Gaza City, a strike on a house killed 12 people, including seven children and two women, according to Al-Ahli Hospital where the bodies were taken.
One man cradled a tiny shroud-wrapped body as mourners gathered at the hospital in Gaza City. Women comforted each other as they wept.
Overall, Gaza's Health Ministry said 21 people had been killed over the past 24 hours.
More than 45,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, when a Hamas attack in Israel killed about 1,200 people and triggered the 14-month war. The health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said more than half of fatalities are women and children.
Israel faces heavy international criticism over the unprecedented levels of civilian deaths in Gaza. It says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in residential areas.
Gaza's Health Ministry issued an urgent appeal for medical and food supplies to be delivered to Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in largely isolated northern Gaza, while the hospital director described conditions as dire, as Israel's military presses its latest offensive.
The ministry reported continuous gunfire and Israeli shelling near the hospital, saying “shells have struck the third floor and the hospital’s entrances, creating a state of panic.”
Hospital director Dr. Husam Abu Safiyeh said the facility faced “severe shortages” and asserted that requests for essential medical supplies and ways to maintain oxygen, water and electricity systems "have largely gone unmet.”
He said 72 wounded people were being treated at the hospital.
“Food is very scarce, and we cannot provide meals for the wounded," Safiyeh added. “We are urgently calling on anyone who can provide supplies to help us.”
Aid groups have said Israeli military operations and armed gangs have hindered their ability to distribute aid.
The Israeli military organization dealing with humanitarian affairs for Gaza said Saturday it had led an operation delivering thousands of food packages, flour and water to the Beit Hanoun area in the north. It said trucks with the U.N. World Food Program transported them to distribution centers in the area Friday.
Iran on Saturday said unknown gunmen had killed a local staffer of the Iranian embassy in Syria, the official IRNA news agency said.
Its report quoted foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei as saying “terrorists” opened fire on Davood Bitaraf’s car last Sunday. It did not say what he did with the embassy.
Baghaei said Iran considers Syria’s interim government responsible for finding and prosecuting those behind the killing. Iran had been a key ally of recently ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad.
Shurafa reported from Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Majdal Shams, Golan Heights, contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp are prepared for the funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Men pray over the bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp during a funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat arrive at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital before their funeral in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An Israeli soldier observes the site where the missile launched from Yemen landed Jaffa district, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)
