The entire 20-man police force of
Ascension, Chihuahua, Mexico
resigned yesterday in the face of repeated attacks from cartel gunmen in Mexico's ongoing
drug war.
The Northern Mexican town, with a population of 13,000, has found itself directly in the middle of battles between rival cartels and has already suffered through unprecedented violence over the last several years.
In May, the chief of police and two officers were kidnapped and assassinated. Most recently, an attack by gunmen earlier in the week resulted in the deaths of three more law enforcement officers.
Ascension made headlines last year when angry residents, claiming that the local police were paid off by the cartels and assisting in kidnappings and extortion, forced the entire police department to resign. However, upon hiring the new batch of officers, the police became the focused targets of violence and intimidation.
State and federal police have moved in to take over the day-to-day duties of the former police department.
