December 01, 2017 - 1:23 PM
MEXICO CITY - The government of the southern Mexico state of Chiapas says it has sent about 300 aid workers, food, medicine and helicopters to supply rural residents who fled their communities because of local conflicts.
The government said Friday it also sent 150 state police to patrol roads after the largely indigenous inhabitants fled hamlets in the townships of Chenalho and Chalchihuitan in recent weeks to take refuge in the woods.
Officials did not say how many were displaced, but the Fray Bartolome de las Casas human rights centre said there were about 5,000.
The centre said they fled after gunmen fired shots and burned houses amid land disputes.
The area was the scene of the 1997 massacre of 45 indigenous villagers in Acteal, which involved land and political conflicts.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017