A deadly ambush in Mexico on Monday has once again put the country’s president on the defensive as the Mexican government tries to crack down on violence.

Cartel gunmen in northern Mexico killed at least nine people including a family of women and children of dual Mexican and U.S. citizenship. CGTN’s Franc Contreras reports.

The massacre took place Monday in broad daylight. By nightfall, Mexican National Guard troops arrived at the scene near the town of La Mora in northern Mexico.

Shortly after the gruesome attack, a grandfather of some of the victims went to the location where three SUVs were burned and riddled with bullets. Distraught family members in the U.S. state of Utah expressed horror at the news that women and children had been targeted.

On his Twitter account, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote: “This is the time for Mexico, with help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth. We merely await a call from your great new president!”

On Tuesday, during his daily news conference, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador offered his condolences to the family – the LeBarons of Chihuahua state.

Mexico is experiencing record-levels of crime-related violence – much of it perpetrated by rival drug trafficking organizations battling each other and the police for control of key trafficking routes.

Recent cartel shoot-outs have left many Mexicans wondering if the situation is getting out of control for the federal government.