Eleven people have been injured after a suspected car bomb exploded outside a police station.
The explosive was allegedly hidden inside a stolen vehicle and remotely detonated as a female officer approached to inspect it.
The blast ripped through the area outside the municipal police headquarters in Ojocaliente, Zacatecas, Mexico, on Sunday (30 August) night.
READ MORE: Man jumps fence at major airport ‘to get closer look at planes’
Eleven people were injured, with two reportedly left in a serious condition.
The stolen car had been parked outside the station at around 7pm before the device was detonated.
Zacatecas prosecutor Cristian Paul Camacho Osnaya said the device was an improvised explosive known as a pipe bomb, consisting of a metal tube filled with compressed gunpowder.
The blast damaged the police headquarters as well as 17 nearby buildings.
Eleven private vehicles and two police patrol cars were also destroyed.
The attack came as Ojocaliente was holding its Regional Grape and Prickly Pear Festival, forcing the mayor to cancel a ceremony to crown the festival queen.
Classes at all schools in the town were suspended the following day, while municipal offices were temporarily closed.
The bombing has reportedly been linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), which is fighting a rival Sinaloa Cartel faction known as La Mayiza for control of the area.
It was the third explosive attack targeting security forces in Zacatecas in less than a week, as reported by Need To Know.
Last Thursday (27 August), two state police officers were injured by homemade explosives on a federal highway in Tabasco.
Four further devices were discovered and safely detonated.
The following day, another attack took place near the border with Aguascalientes when a motorcycle carrying explosives was reportedly remotely detonated near a police patrol.
A teacher was critically injured and a police officer seriously hurt in the blast.
Federal and state security forces have now launched an operation to identify and arrest those responsible for the latest attack.
READ MORE: Suspension bridge gives way as 50 people cross it during opening ceremony
