Mexico mayor killed within hours of taking office

The mayor of a city south of Mexico’s capital was shot to death by gunmen less than a day after taking office, officials said.

Gunmen opened fire on Mayor Gisela Mota, 33, on Saturday at her house in the city of Temixco, said the government of Morelos state, which is about 55 km from the capital Mexico City. Temixco is plagued by organised crime and rampant drug trafficking – problems the slain mayor had vowed to clean up.

Two of the suspected gunmen were killed and three others were detained following a pursuit, said Morelos security commissioner Jesus Alberto Capella. He said the suspects fired on federal police and soldiers from a vehicle.

Morelos Governor Ramirez vowed there “would be no impunity” in her killing and promised that state officials would not cede to what he described as a “challenge from criminals.” Ramirez attributed Mota's killing to organised crime, without citing a particular drug cartel or gang.

Cartels seeking to control communities and towns have often targeted local officials and mayors in Mexico.

Mota's leftist Democratic Revolution Party released a statement describing Mota as “a strong and brave woman who on taking office as mayor, declared that her fight against crime would be frontal and direct.” Mota, who had been a federal congresswoman in her early thirties, was sworn into office on New Year's Day. She was killed the following day.

More than 100,000 people have been killed or gone missing in a nearly a decade of drug violence nationwide.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office in December 2012, has pledged to reduce the murders, kidnappings and extortion haunting Mexicans.