Truemors
8 US citizens among Mexico border city deaths this month 
The Juarez drug cartel operating in US-Mexico is fighting a turf war for control of Chihuahua state and its key drug routes to the United States with the Sinaloa cartel, from the neighbouring state further south. Eevn the hevy deployment of large number of soldiers have not detered to stem the violence.
Now this latest news says that 8 US citizens have become target of this gang and have lost their life.
Eight US citizens were killed and five wounded in attacks in the volatile northern Mexico border city of Ciudad Juarez in August, the US consul in Mexico said on Friday.
"During the month of August they (hitmen) killed eight US citizens and injured five more on this side of the border," said Raymond McGrath at a meeting on border issues in Ciudad Juarez.
Violence has escalated throughout Mexico since President Felipe Calderon, who took office at the end of 2006, launched a military crackdown on drug trafficking and related attacks, but nowhere more than in Ciudad Juarez.
The city has had an average of four murders a day this year, according to police and news reports, which increased to eight a day in the month of August.
The consul did not give names of the US citizens or details of their deaths, but said they "were not direct targets of the violence."
Of some 2,700 murders across the country this year, official figures this week showed almost 1,000 have been in Ciudad Juarez -- across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas -- including three in the most recent attacks on Friday.
The US government in April warned its citizens to be careful in Ciudad Juarez and along the rest of the US-Mexico border, but McGrath recommended that they avoid the area completely if possible due to "a higher risk of violence" than before.
"Although Mexican citizens are the main victims of these crimes, the uncertain security situation also implies a risk for US citizens," he said.
Between January and the end of August, some 946 murders were reported, including 110 police, according to official figures, in the city of some 1.5 million.
Some 5,000 families are reported to have fled Ciudad Juarez since the start of the year.
Comments (0)