Thousands of people took to the streets on Thursday to protest the killings of two children in an attempt to hijack Mexico's troubled northwestern state of Sinaloa.

Mothers and children in school uniforms are among those calling for an end to cartel violence, which sometimes closes schools and businesses in the state capital, Culiacan.

Agence France-Presse reported that a group of children made slogans with slogans such as "I want to live, not survive".

A small group of protesters forced their way into the office of Sinaloa governor Rubén Rocha, trashed them and demanded his resignation. Rocha, a close ally of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has been unable to control violence in his state despite deploying troops.

"We understand the anger," state spokesman Feliciano Castro said shortly afterward, noting that federal authorities were investigating the killings.

Brothers Gael and Alexander Sarmiento, aged 12 and 9 respectively, saw their father fatally shot on Sunday as armed men tried to steal a car. Two other minors were injured. State authorities suggested the vehicle's tinted windows may have been a factor, but it's unclear how.

Thursday's parade was organized by Brother Elementary School.

That's a lot of anger in a city firmly in the grip of the Sinaloa Cartel. Culiacán has suffered months of intense violence as the two cartel factions have been fighting for control since the U.S. arrests last year. Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

Zambada claims he was Joaquin Guzman Lopezone of the sons of “El Chap” who he said lured him onto a plane to the United States, “El Chap” himself serve sentence.

Earlier Thursday, an explosion in a supermarket parking lot in Curiachi damaged a memorial dedicated to Edgar Guzman Lopez, his son. El Chapo's son, who was killed in 2008.

The ongoing war between the cartel's "mayonnaise" and "chapitos" has left hundreds of people died Hundreds of people are missing, according to the state attorney's office. According to the U.S. Department of Justice indictment, the church and its cartel associates used corkscrews, electric and hot chili peppers to torture their competitors when some of their victims were "fed to death or alive to tigers".

Bodies have turned up all over the city, often on the streets or with anyone on these heads Or use a knife to staple a pizza or box to it. Pizza and sambreros have become unofficial symbols of the warring cartel factions, emphasizing the brutality of the war.

ongoing violence is President Claudia Sheinbaum’s biggest challenge Since taking office in October. Her administration is under pressure from President Donald Trump to smuggle the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States, where the Sinaloa Cartel is one of the world's most powerful One of the largest illegal producers.

Estefanía López of Culiacan Valiente said outrage over the child's death had grown online this week and made March "even more intense, more emotional, very, very sad, more difficult" on Thursday. Previous peaceful marches were organized.

"I think a lot of people woke up," Lopez said. "The disgust... has been so intense that people came out today."

France - Pars - Pars contributed to this report.