A suspected car bomb attack in central Mexico has injured at least 11 people and damaged around 40 buildings, highlighting growing concerns over the increasingly sophisticated tactics being used by criminal cartels.
The explosion occurred on Sunday in Ojocaliente, Zacatecas, where a vehicle believed to have been packed with explosives was abandoned outside a police headquarters. Two police officers were among those injured in the blast, according to Zacatecas Governor David Monreal.
Footage circulating on social media appeared to show huge flames rising from the area as residents, including children, fled the scene. However, the authenticity of the footage has not been independently verified.
Monreal said initial investigations indicated the attack may have been carried out in retaliation for the arrest of a suspected member of a criminal organisation on Saturday. He described the incident as part of a worrying trend involving increasingly dangerous methods of attack.
The governor said criminal groups had carried out nearly a dozen similar attacks, with some involving so-called mini drones fitted with explosives as well as landmines. Such incidents, he added, demonstrated how organised crime groups were continuing to evolve their methods.
Zacatecas security chief Arturo Medina said explosive-related attacks in the state had increased sharply in recent years. Official figures showed one such incident was recorded in 2024, followed by six in 2025 and 10 so far this year.
Medina did not provide details on the number of people killed or injured in the attacks. The growing use of explosives has nevertheless raised fresh concerns over the threat posed by organised crime to communities and security personnel.
“Organised crime is evolving; I don’t understand why people aren’t grasping the full extent of what’s happening in the country,” Monreal said.
Similar incidents have also been reported in other violence-hit Mexican states, including Michoacan, where criminal groups have used explosives against security facilities, communities and law enforcement personnel.
Military personnel have been killed in some of these attacks. Mexico’s federal government has yet to issue a statement on the wider pattern of explosive attacks.
