High-Ranking Mexican Navy Officer Ambushed in Manzanillo

A Mexican navy rear admiral was shot dead in Manzanillo. The incident marks one of the country's highest-ranking military officers killed in a decade. The motive remains unclear, but the officer was driving a private vehicle. Drug cartels are suspected due to intensified military crackdown.

A high-ranking Mexican navy rear admiral was killed by gunmen on Friday in Manzanillo, marking the highest-ranking military official slain in Mexico in a decade. The navy confirmed the admiral was shot in the Pacific coast port city but withheld his identity.

Authorities are uncertain if the attackers were aware of the admiral's identity, as he was in his private vehicle during the attack. Yet, this assassination compares to the 2013 murder of Vice Adm. Carlos Miguel Salazar by the Knights Templar cartel in nearby Michoacan.

The Mexican navy plays a crucial role in fighting drug cartels, empowered with law enforcement duties. Manzanillo is strategic for cartels importing precursors for fentanyl manufacture, adding complexity to the motives behind this rare high-level military attack.

(With inputs from agencies.)