Ciudad Juarez (Mexico): The latest spate of
drug-related violence in northern Mexico left 15 people dead,
including five factory workers near the US border, officials
have said.
The Chihuahua state prosecutor said yesterday the
workers were gunned down when armed men burst into a party at
a house in Ciudad Juarez late Friday.
Ciudad Juarez, which borders El Paso, Texas, is a key
battleground for drug traffickers seeking routes to the United
States. It is also home to many factories, called
maquiladoras, for US firms that can use Mexican workers.
Six other violent deaths were recorded in Ciudad Juarez,
including a man and his daughter, who were shot by gunmen who
entered his home yesterday, authorities said.
In other municipalities of Chihuahua, which shares a
long border with Texas, there were four killings late Friday,
prosecutors said.
Late Thursday, a car bomb detonated on a police convoy
killed four people and injured 11 in the border town`s first
such attack.
Violence linked to drug cartels has left 7,000 people
dead so far this year in Mexico, compared with 9,000 killed in
all of 2009.
Nearly 25,000 people have died in suspected drug
violence since President Felipe Calderon launched a military
crackdown on organized crime three and a half years ago,
according to official figures released Friday.
PTI
