Suspected car bomb explodes in cartel-dominated Mexican city, wounds several National Guard officers

By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — What appears to have been a booby trap or car bomb has exploded in a cartel-dominated Mexican city, wounding several officers of Mexico’s National Guard who approached the vehicle to inspect it. The National Guard said Thursday that explosion occurred late Wednesday in the city of Celaya, where drug cartels have been fighting a bloody turf war for years. Mexican drug cartels have used improvised explosive devices or booby traps sporadically over the last two decades. But the use of a car bomb to intentionally cause law enforcement casualties marks an escalation, and recalls a 2010 car bomb blast in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez.