- Title: MEXICO: Gunmen kill 10 patients at rehab clinic in Ciudad Juarez
- Date: 17th September 2009
- Summary: FCIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO (SEPTEMBER 16, 2009) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) PICK-UP VEHICLE / SOLDIER / CORDONED OFF AREA EXTERIOR OF REHAB CLINIC CALLED "ANEXO DE VIDA" SOLDIER / AMBULANCE SEEN IN BACKGROUND OUTSIDE REHAB CLINIC SOLDIERS / AMBULANCE VEHICLES FROM MORGUE DRIVING AWAY FROM CRIME SCENE AUTHORITIES OUTSIDE REHAB CLINIC SOLDIER / CORDONED OFF AREA AUTHORITIES OUTSIDE REHAB CLINIC VEHICLE FROM MORGUE VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS AND DEVASTATED RELATIVES OUTSIDE REHAB CLINIC AMBULANCE WORKER VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS OUTSIDE REHAB CLINIC AMBULANCE WORKER / SOLDIER AUTHORITIES AT CRIME SCENE POLICE OUTSIDE REHAB CLINIC VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS AND AMBULANCE AMBULANCE DRIVING AWAY / RESIDENTS LOOKING ON VEHICLE FROM MORGUE IN STREET SOLDIERS INSPECTING CRIME SCENE SOLDIERS OUTSIDE CLINIC / CORDONED OFF AREA SIGN THAT READS: "Plan de Ayala street" SOLDIER VARIOUS OF RELATIVES OUTSIDE REHAB CLINIC
- Embargoed: 2nd October 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Mexico
- Country: Mexico
- Reuters ID: LVA2YDO5BNZSVB0HN7UPX4YGTOA3
- Story Text: Suspected drug hitmen stormed into a rehabilitation clinic and killed 10 patients, the second such attack in this Mexican city on the U.S. border during September, authorities said on Wednesday (September 16).
State attorney spokesman Vladimir Tuexi said the victims, nine men and one woman, were killed late on Tuesday (September 15) as they finished praying before going to bed, while the country celebrated Mexico's independence day.
Drug gangs have targeted rehab clinics in the manufacturing city of Ciudad Juarez across from El Paso, Texas, accusing them of protecting dealers from rival gangs.
Soldiers cordoned-off the area outside the "Anexo de Vida" (Attached to Life) drug clinic, while ambulances were seen close-by giving medical attention to two people who survived but were seriously wounded in the attack.
Vehicles from the morgue collected the bodies from the rehab clinic in a visibly down-trodden neighbourhood, while soldiers stood guard and devastated relatives looked on.
A similar attack took place in Ciudad Juarez, in the northern state of Chihuahua, earlier this month when hooded gunmen killed 17 patients at another clinic, one of the deadliest assaults in President Felipe Calderon's three-year war against drug cartels.
Ciudad Juarez is the battleground for the feuding Juarez Cartel and drug smugglers loyal to Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, the head of the Sinaloa cartel and Mexico's most-wanted man.
The city's streets are constantly patrolled by 10,000 troops and federal police.
The government's inability to defeat the cartels is Calderon's biggest challenge and is worrying foreign investors and the United States. More than 13,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since late 2006.
Calderon removed last week Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora, who had spearheaded his anti-drug campaign, and nominated a little-known former law enforcement official as his replacement.
But his new pick, Arturo Chavez, could struggle to win congressional approval due to his record as top prosecutor in Chihuahua, where he failed to stop the murders of hundreds of young women in the 1990s. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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