Mexico attack leaves over a dozen dead, including mayor

A gunfight in southern Mexico has left at least 18 people dead, including the mayor of a town, authorities said.

Prosecutor Milenoio Sandra Luz Valdovinos said on Wednesday the attack happened in Totolapan in the state of Guerrero. 

Two others were wounded, she said.

The remote township is in Tierra Caliente, one of Mexico's most conflictive areas, disputed by multiple drug trafficking gangs.

Separately, a state lawmaker was shot to death in the neighboring state of Morelos.

While attacks on public officials are not uncommon in Mexico, these come at a time when the security strategy of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is being sharply debated.

The president has placed a tremendous responsibility on the armed forces rather than civilian police for reining in Mexico’s persistently high levels of violence.

In 2016, Totolapan locals fed up with abductions by the local gang "Los Tequileros," kidnapped the gang leader's mother to leverage the release of others.