Twenty-six peasants were ambushed and murdered in southern Mexico, apparently killed by rival farmers in a long-running land dispute, officials said today.
The victims were all shot to death late yesterday after armed men stopped the truck they were traveling in on a remote country road in the dirt-poor state of Oaxaca.
They told the driver and his son to leave and at that very moment they opened fire on the people inside the truck, the state attorney general's office said in a statement.
It was an ambush on open ground. We still don't know the motive but there are land conflicts in that area, a state government source said.
The victims were traveling home to the community of Santiago Xochiltepec, which lies about four hours south of the state capital, when they came under attack in an area known as Agua Fria (Cold Water).