Tensions Rise: US and Mexico Spar Over Sinaloa Cartel Violence

US Ambassador Ken Salazar denied Mexico's president’s accusations that the US is partly responsible for recent cartel violence in northern Sinaloa. Arrests of two cartel leaders in the US have stirred conflict between factions of the Sinaloa cartel. Meanwhile, brutal violence has gripped the region, escalating diplomatic tensions between the neighboring countries.

US Ambassador Ken Salazar firmly rejected claims by Mexico's president that the US shares responsibility for the surge in cartel violence in northern Sinaloa over the weekend.

Tensions have escalated in Sinaloa, as warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel clash in Culiacan following the arrests of two key leaders in the US in late July.

"It is incomprehensible how the United States can be responsible for the massacres we see in different places," Salazar stated during a news conference in Chihuahua on Saturday, dismissing the allegations. Violence erupted when Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's son allegedly abducted an elder cartel figure, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, and flew them to the US for detention, triggering clashes and heightening the state's insecurity.

(With inputs from agencies.)