Gunmen opened fire on football fans after a match in central Mexico on Sunday, killing 11 people and injuring at least 12 others in an attack authorities blamed on organised crime.

The assailants stormed a community football ground in Salamanca, a city of about 160,000 people in Guanajuato state, shortly after the final whistle. Ten victims died at the scene, while another later succumbed to injuries in hospital. Among the wounded were a woman and a child.

Salamanca Mayor Cesar Prieto appealed to the national government for support to “restore peace, tranquillity and security,” warning that criminal groups were attempting to undermine state authority. “We are going through a grave moment, a serious social breakdown,” he said.

The attack came amid a surge in violence in the area. On Saturday night, four bags containing human remains were found in Salamanca, while six people were killed the same day in two neighbouring communities. Authorities also confirmed a bomb threat last week at a Pemex refinery in the city.

Guanajuato, a major industrial hub and tourist destination in central Mexico, has become the country’s deadliest state due to fierce turf wars between criminal groups. Much of the violence has been linked to clashes between the Santa Rosa de Lima gang, known for oil theft, and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

President Claudia Sheinbaum has said Mexico’s homicide rate fell in 2025 to its lowest level in a decade under her administration’s security strategy, though experts have questioned the accuracy of the figures.

Since Mexico launched its crackdown on drug cartels in 2006, criminal violence has claimed more than 480,000 lives, while over 120,000 people remain missing. Mass graves and unburied human remains continue to be uncovered across the country.