GUERRERO — The criminal group Los Ardillos attacked rural mountain communities in Mexico's Guerrero state with homemade explosives launched from drones and heavy weapons, forcing between 800 and 1,000 families to flee their homes. The violence began on Wednesday and included eight hours of bombing on Saturday, killing at least four people and injuring at least one other.

Videos showed families fleeing their homes before dawn on Mother's Day carrying only backpacks. Images captured heavy gunfire echoing over farmland and drones rigged with explosives lying in the brush. Families fled to nearby towns, with many taking refuge in a soccer field.

Carlos González García said the four deaths had been confirmed and that Los Ardillos were targeting armed community police forces established by villagers. He said the group was also forcing villagers to grow opium poppies, and he accused local government officials of colluding with criminal groups. According to González García, there are three joint military, National Guard, and state police bases in the area.

Communities in the region have taken up arms themselves to fight back against groups like Los Ardillos, which has sought to take over land in battles with rival criminal groups. Cartels in Guerrero state have been using drones and more elaborate weapons to wage violence for years.

Marina Velasco, a representative for CIPOG-EZ, said: "Communities like these have largely been 'abandoned' by Mexican forces in the face of attacks from criminal groups." The organization has documented 76 people slain and 25 missing in the region in recent years due to the conflict with Los Ardillos.

President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed the displacement of villagers. "With the presence of the national guard and at the same time with attention to these displaced families, we can help them return to their place of origin," she said. Since Sheinbaum took office, her security policies have coincided with a roughly 40% decrease in homicides.

A study by Mexico's Ibero University found that the number of people displaced by violence in Mexico increased from 12,600 in 2023 to 28,900 in 2024. There were nearly 400,000 displaced people in Mexico as of the end of 2024, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.