Two adults and 11 teenagers died, while about two dozen others were injured, as a group of gunmen fired indiscriminately on partygoers at a high school student party in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez
Two adults and 11 teenagers died, while about two dozen others were injured, as a group of gunmen fired indiscriminately on partygoers at a high school student party in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez.
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Bloodbath: Bodies of the victims, whose ages ranged from 15 to 20, lay scattered around the house where the attack happened. Pic/AFP |
It was not immediately clear if anyone at the party was linked to the drug gangs that have made Ciudad Juarez one of the world's most dangerous cities.
Witnesses said the gunmen drove up to the house in several cars in the early hours of Sunday. They began shooting at people from outside the property before moving inside, and pursued some of the youngsters trying to escape over a fence.
The bodies of the victims -- whose ages reportedly ranged from 15 to 20 -- lay scattered around the house.
Unnamed police officials said agency that witnesses had counted at least 15 attackers.
"The men drove up in four SUVs and were well-armed. They went into the house and shot at everyone, you could hear the gunfire all around," said a neighbour at the scene.
Ciudad Juarez, straddling a highly lucrative drug-smuggling route into the US, is the scene of a vicious war between rival cartels. Some 45,000 troops have been deployed to crack down on the gangs in the city. But the campaign has done little to curb the bloodletting -- more than 7,000 people reportedly died in Mexican drug-related violence last year.
| 2009 drug war |
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On September 3, gunmen lined up patients against a wall at a rehab centre in Ciudad Juarez and then riddled them with bullets, killing 18.
In yet another attack on September 16, suspected drug hitmen killed 10 patients in another rehabilitation clinic in the city.
Drug gangs targeted rehab clinics accusing them of protecting dealers from rival gangs.u00a0u00a0 |
