Ten people were killed in an attack on a hotel and two bars in the town of Celaya in central Mexico. “Seven women and three men were found dead and two other people injured by bullets,” said the Security Secretariat of this city in the state of Guanajuato in a press release.
The attack took place around 10 p.m. local time on Monday (5 a.m. this Tuesday French time) and “several posters alluding to a criminal group” from the region were found on the spot.
According to witnesses, armed people entered the establishments and shot at those present, then poured gasoline on them in an attempt to set fire to the premises. The bodies were left lying among the tables and chairs.
Conflict between cartels
The state of Guanajuato, a prosperous industrial center crossed by an important oil pipeline network and where a refinery is located, has become one of the most violent states in Mexico due to the conflict between the “Santa Rosa de Lima” cartels and “Jalisco New Generation”. Gangs vie for control of drug trafficking and stolen fuel.
Mexico has been hit by a spiral of violence that has claimed some 340,000 lives – most attributed to organized crime – since 2006, when a controversial military counter-narcotics offensive was deployed.