Mexico vigilantes refuse to lay down arms in troubled state

A looter carries boxes of beer as Corona truck burns in a road block allegedly set up by followers of the Knights Templar cartel in Tierra Caliente January 10, 2014. REUTERS/Alan Ortega

APATZINGAN, Mexico (Reuters) - Vigilante groups battling a powerful drug cartel in a troubled region of Mexico on Tuesday rejected a government call to lay down their arms, raising the risk of a serious security challenge to President Enrique Pena Nieto.

On Monday, Mexico's interior ministry ordered the heavily armed vigilantes to stop fighting the Knights Templar drug gang in the western state of Michoacan, where violent confrontations have converged on the city of Apatzingan in the last few days.