Gunmen opened fire on spectators after a football match in central Mexico, killing 11 people and injuring at least 12 others in an area long troubled by violence linked to organised crime, local authorities have said.
The attack occurred after Sunday’s match at a community football pitch in Salamanca, a city of about 160,000 residents in Guanajuato state. Armed assailants reportedly burst into the venue shortly after the game ended and began shooting at those present.
Municipal officials confirmed that 10 victims died at the scene, while another later succumbed to injuries at a hospital. Among the wounded were a woman and a child, according to the city government.
Salamanca Mayor Cesar Prieto appealed to the federal authorities for urgent intervention to help “restore peace, tranquillity, and security” in the area, attributing the bloodshed to organised criminal groups.
“We are going through a grave moment, a serious social breakdown. There are criminal groups trying to subdue the authorities,” he said.
The violence came amid a string of deadly incidents in and around Salamanca. Authorities disclosed that four bags containing human remains were found in the city on Saturday night, while six people were killed the same day in two neighbouring communities.
Last week, a bomb threat was also reported at a Pemex oil refinery located in Salamanca, further heightening fears in the industrial city.
Guanajuato, despite being a major manufacturing hub and a gateway to several tourist destinations, has consistently ranked as Mexico’s deadliest state due to ongoing gang conflicts, official homicide data shows.
Much of the bloodshed in the region has been linked to a power struggle between the Santa Rosa de Lima gang, known for oil theft, and the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, with one of their confrontations believed to have been underway at the time of the shooting.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum recently said the country’s homicide rate in 2025 had dropped to its lowest point in a decade, crediting her administration’s national security strategy. However, several analysts have expressed doubts about the accuracy of those figures.
Criminal violence, largely tied to drug trafficking, has claimed more than 480,000 lives in Mexico since the government launched a major offensive against drug cartels in 2006.
In addition, more than 120,000 people are officially listed as missing, many believed to have been abducted, forcibly recruited by criminal groups, or killed, with mass graves and dismembered remains frequently discovered across the country.
What you should know
Guanajuato has become the epicentre of Mexico’s violent crime crisis, largely due to fierce competition between powerful criminal groups over territory, fuel theft, and drug trafficking routes.
Salamanca, a key industrial city with a major oil refinery, has been repeatedly targeted in recent years.
Despite government claims of falling homicide rates, recurring mass killings, discoveries of human remains, and attacks on civilians continue to raise concerns about the effectiveness of national security strategies and the deepening impact of organised crime on everyday life.
