At least 29 people have died in a wave of violence in Mexico since the arrest of El Chapo’s son Videos posted on social media show heavy fighting that took place at night when the sky was lit by helicopter gunfire.

Mexican security forces captured drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzmán, son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, this Thursday, sparking a wave of violence with road closures, helicopter gunfire and planes being hit.

Most of the attacks take place in the city of Culiacan in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, home to a powerful drug cartel led by El Chapo before being extradited to the United States in 2017.

Defense Minister Luis Cresensio Sandoval said that among the 29 dead, 10 were members of the Mexican armed forces and 19 belonged to the criminal gangs behind the unrest.

“Ten soldiers died in the performance of their security duty. The Mexican state will honor them with funeral honors,” Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said at his daily press conference.

According to Reuters, the governor said there were 12 clashes with security forces, 25 acts of vandalism, 250 cars were set on fire and roads were blocked.

The failed operation to arrest Ovidio in 2019 ended in humiliation for the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, after the arrest sparked a wave of violence that forced authorities to close schools and airports in Culiacan. At the time, Ovidio, a key figure in the cartel after his father’s arrest, was quickly released to put an end to the cartel’s brutal retaliation.

Videos posted on social media show heavy fighting that took place at night in Culiacan as the sky was lit up by gunfire from a helicopter.

Clashes erupted at the city’s airport and Mexican airline Aeromexico said one of its planes was shot at ahead of a scheduled flight to Mexico City. There were no injuries, the company said.

David Tellez, the passenger who boarded the attacked plane with his wife and three children, told Reuters they had decided to stay at the airport until it was safe to leave. “The city is less safe. There is a lot of shooting and confusion there,” he told Tellez.

A Mexican Air Force plane was also shot down, the federal aviation agency said, adding that the Culiacan airport and the cities of Mazatlán and Los Mochis in Sinaloa would remain closed until security was assured.