More than 1,000 Flee Gunfights in Southwest Mexico

Some 1,000 people have fled their homes in southwestern Mexico after gunfights erupted in their villages and criminal groups threatened them, officials said Thursday.

Residents of three villages in the state of Guerrero abandoned their homes Wednesday after an unspecified number of people were wounded and houses were set ablaze, said Bolivar Ochoa, secretary general of the San Miguel Totolapa municipality that oversees the communities.

"There were shootouts for three days that could be heard here in the municipal center. A group burned down houses and attacked people, who are in tears over this situation," Ochoa told AFP.

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