Gunmen have killed nine people at a bar in central Mexico, local officials said. (representative)
Celaya, Mexico:
Gunmen killed nine people at a bar in central Mexico’s Guanajuato state, the country’s most violent, local officials said, in an attack blamed on drug cartels.
The attack, which also injured two people, took place in the city of Apaseo el Alto around 9 p.m. (0000 GMT) on Wednesday evening.
“Armed men aboard a truck” arrived at the Lexus bar and opened fire on those inside, killing five men and four women, the local council said in a statement.
Guanajuato is an industrial state and the scene of a violent clash between the drug cartels Jalisco New Generation and Santa Rosa de Lima.
Local media said the attack was revenge for Tuesday’s arrest of Juan Rodolfo Yepez, a leader of Santa Rosa de Lima.
Authorities have asked witnesses to testify anonymously.
Such attacks are common in Mexico and often go unpunished.
In the hours before the attack, 18 vehicles were set on fire in the areas around Apaseo el Alto.
More than 2,100 murders were recorded in Guanajuato, a state of six million inhabitants, between January and August, according to government figures.
Despite the violence, the state and its eponymous capital – a historic colonial city – remain popular tourist destinations.
The Cervantino, Mexico’s largest theater festival, takes place there in October.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
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