After the brutal death of two elderly priests in Mexico gained worldwide condemnation, a video circulated on social media on Friday that claims to be from the leader of a Mexican cartel asking for the fighting to be kept away from the innocents.

The leader of the Mexican cartel group Jalisco New Generation Cartel urged for “innocents” to be kept away from the drug war, with the man in the video invoking the name of El Mencho, AKA Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, to spare doctors, teachers, and medical personnel, according to Reuters.

“I ask you that the war remains between us, that we don't involve anyone who shouldn't be involved,” a man speaking Spanish said in the video. “We are people who are for the people.”

The video, which contains a masked man speaking with a group of heavily-armed people wearing camouflage behind him, is believed to be a real video from the cartel, though the press or the police have yet to confirm it, WION News reported.

Mexico has seen an increase in the deaths of groups and individuals due to the rising violence between warring rival drug trafficking rings, with over 30,000 people confirmed dead due to the escalating violence between the gangs.

The two priests who were killed were mourned by the Jesuits on Sunday, with Rev. Jorge Atilano González saying that they have sent more priests to the area to replace them. González reiterated their condemnation of the drug war and continued their calls for justice for those who have died, ABC News reported.

“The over 100,000 disappeared and the 122,000 killed during this administration is a source of pain, of strength, of anger and courage to build justice, reconciliation, and peace,” he said.

Oseguera, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, is the biggest and most well-known rival of the Sinaloa Cartel, which was run by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman before he was arrested by United States authorities.

The U.S. government currently has a $10 million bounty on Oseguera’s head.

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As public indignation grows over the death of two priests under the hands of the Mexican cartel, the leader of one of these cartels have called for innocents to be spared in the drug war. This is a representational image. Saint John's Seminary/Unsplash.
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