Mexico's government has pledged to take control of a violent western state after days of fighting between masked vigilantes and members of one of the country's most powerful drug cartels. The state of Michoacan has been rocked by repeated explosions of civil unrest and vigilante groups have sprung up in the region which complain that state and federal police are not protecting them from the gangs.
A member of the community police poses for a picture after breaking into the village of Paracuaro, and taking over control, in Michoacan state. Some 100 gunmen of the community police from different towns and riding in a convoy of trucks entered Paracuaro and disarmed the police to gain control over the town in an effort to rid the area of the Knights Templar cartel (Caballeros Templarios), according to local media.
Vigilantes ride on the back of a pick-up truck while driving in a convoy to the town of Poturo.The vigilantes who have been tolerated by the government are pushing into the stronghold of one of Mexico's most feared drug cartels, raising the risk of an unprecedented urban battle in the country's drug war. Hundreds of men, many armed with high-powered rifles, barrelled into the town of Nueva Italia in a convoy of pickup trucks, claiming they want to liberate it from the Knights Templar cartel that controls much of the western state of Michoacan
A truck blocks a highway near the village of Paracuaro after a clash between members of the community police and the Knights Templar cartel (Caballeros Templarios) near the village of Paracuaro in Michoacan state.
A looter carries boxes of beer as a Corona truck burns in a road block allegedly set up by followers of the Knights Templar cartel in Tierra Caliente. Since late last year, vigilante groups in the state of Michoacan have moved deeper into territory controlled by the Knights Templar cartel and they now are converging on Apatzingan, considered one of the gang's main strongholds.
Community police groups are cropping up all over Mexico. Here, members of the Public Safety System, or the community police of Guerrero state, march to commemorate the first anniversary of their foundation in Ayutla de los Libres, Guerrero state.
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Jose Manuel Mireles (C), head of Michoacan state's community police, stands with vigilantes in Churumuco in Michoacan state.
Vigilantes take a rest at the town hall after entering the town of Nueva Italia.