Officials say four mayors in Mexico have asked federal authorities for protection after a colleague was beheaded last week in the southern state of Guerrero.

Alejandro Arcos was sworn in last Monday as mayor of Chilpancingo, a city so violent that a drug gang openly staged a demonstration, hijacked a government armored car and took police hostage in 2023 to win the release of arrested suspects.

In Chilpancingo, Mexico, the newly elected mayor, Alejandro Arcos Catalan, was found decapitated six days after taking office. His head was placed on top of his pickup truck, while his body was found inside.

The gruesome killing represents yet another challenge for the country’s new president, who faces increasing pressure to show progress in the fight against violent cartels.

The mayor of a city in southern Mexico was murdered less than a week after taking office, authorities said, a crime condemned by President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday as “deplorable.”

Alexander Arcos was killed on Sunday, just six days after he was elected the mayor of Chilpancingo, a city around 170 miles south of Mexico City with a population of around 280,00

The decapitated head of a mayor in Mexico was found atop his car just six days into his tenure, marking the second official to be murdered in Guerrero’s capital in less than a week. The body of Alejandro Arcos,

A portrait of Alejandro Arcos, the mayor of Chilpancingo who was killed on Sunday less than a week after taking office, is shown at his funeral service as Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum is set to unveil a new security policy,

The mayor of a violence-plagued city in Mexico was killed on Sunday with his decapitated body left in a pickup truck and his severed head placed atop the vehicle's roof.