"War on drugs" - more victims

Another 40 deaths in Mexico’s “war on drugs”. (see my blog of June 9) More than 30 gunmen arrived in the northern city of Chihuahua in six trucks. They attacked a drug rehabilitation centre, shooting staff and patients, then fled.

Nineteen people died and four were wounded. It’s not the first time a rehabilitation centre has been targeted. Drugs traffickers complain that the clinics harbour people from rival gangs.

Further south, another 20 people were killed in Ciudad Madero on the Gulf of Mexico in a series of gun battles. An alleged leader of one of the region’s main gangs had been arrested in Monterrey. In retaliation, gunmen hijacked cars, set up roadblocks and even attacked police stations.

President Calderon said the attacks only reinforced his determination to prosecute the “war”.