MEXICO CITY — The Mexican army acknowledged for the first time Friday that some of its soldiers have been killed by bomb-dropping drones operated by drug cartels.
Defense Secretary Gen. Luis Cresencio Sandoval did not provide exact figures on the number of casualties suffered in the attacks, almost all of which occurred in the western state of Michoacan.
“Our personnel have suffered wounds, and some of our troops have even died” in the attacks, Sandoval said. The army had previously acknowledged that soldiers had been wounded in Michoacan by improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.
Sandoval did not say when the attacks took place, but suggested they targeted patrol units. He said the army was acquiring anti-drone systems to combat the threat.
“What we are seeking with this anti-drone equipment is to have the security capability, which we lack, for our personnel performing reconnaissance and patrols,” Sandoval said.
Sandoval said the army continues to encounter far more road-side bombs than drone-dropped ones.
The Jalisco drug cartel has been fighting local gangs for control of Michoacan for years, and the situation has become so militarized that the warring cartels use roadside bombs or IEDs, trenches, pillboxes, home-made armored vehicles and sniper rifles.
The cartels — especially the Jalisco cartel — have frequently equipped larger commercial drones with specially-built mechanisms to release small but fairly…
