Gunmen kill seventeen at drug rehab centre in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Seventeen people have been killed after gunmen stormed a drug rehab centre in the city of Ciudad Juarez on the United States-Mexico border. Around a dozen gunmen entered the clinic and lined up patients against a wall before killing seventeen of them. Three others were injured in the attack. Around 1,400 people have been killed in drug related violence in the city this year alone.

This is not the first time drug rehab centres have been targeted before in Ciudad Juarez. In the past, dealers have been accused of using the centres to protect their members from rival cartels. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has fought to bring an end to the cartels. He said during his annual state of the union address “As never before, we have weakened the logistical and financial structure of crime”.

In a separate attack deputy police chief Jose Manuel Revuelta was murdered by several heavily armed men as he was driving in Morelia. Two cars intercepted his vehicle just blocks from the police headquarters. Revuelta had only been appointed to the position two weeks ago.