Ten guards and four inmates were killed when the attackers drove in armored vehicles to the detention center in Ciudad Juárez on the United States border and opened fire, the Chihuahua attorney general’s office said. Thirteen other people were injured in the attack on Sunday. According to media reports, the aim of the attack was to free prisoners. At least 24 prisoners managed to escape during the fighting.
Violence is common in Mexican prisons. Many of the often overcrowded prisons are controlled by criminal gangs. Shortly before the attack on the detention center, gunmen in Ciudad Juárez attacked several police officers, the prosecutor’s office said. Four suspects were arrested and two others killed. With a murder rate of 85 per 100,000 people, Ciudad Juárez is currently the fifth most dangerous city in the world.
(SDA)