Violent day in Ciudad Juárez leaves 11 dead

The Mexican metropolis of Ciudad Juárez, bordering the United States, experienced a violent day on Thursday with armed attacks against civilians and the burning of several businesses that left 11 dead, including four radio employees, and twenty wounded in a fight in a jail.

The incidents occurred less than 48 hours after violent attacks in the central states of Jalisco and Guanajuato.

The deaths were confirmed this Friday by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who said that during the violent events the civilian population was attacked with firearms after a confrontation between two criminal groups in a prison in that town.

“Something that had not been presented and hopefully will not be repeated, because the innocent civilian population was attacked as a kind of retaliation,” said López Obrador in his morning conference lamenting the events.

The undersecretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Ricardo Mejía, reported that the fight in the Social Reintegration Center number 3 was between members of the criminal groups Los Chapos and Los Mexicles. Two prisoners died in the prison and 20 people were injured.

Local media reported that the confrontation occurred in the midst of the visit of hundreds of relatives of the prisoners who were evicted from the place by the authorities.

Mejía indicated that after the fight in the jail, members of Los Mexicles attacked and burned businesses in Ciudad Juárez. The undersecretary specified that during the early hours of Friday, six alleged members of that criminal group were arrested who would have participated in the attacks.

Among the dead civilians are four employees of the MegaRadio station, who were broadcasting a promotional event live outside a commercial premises when they were shot.

Article 19, a non-governmental organization dedicated to the defense of the press, said on its Twitter account that among the murdered radio employees is the announcer Alan González, who also worked for the Switch FM station.

Ciudad Juárez, in the state of Chihuahua, has long been a violent area. The gangs involved in the riots often serve as enforcers for powerful drug cartels that wield tight control over the border routes, which they need to get the drugs into the United States.

The government activated an operation in different neighborhoods of Ciudad Juárez involving agents from the state and municipal police, the National Guard and the army, reported the Chihuahua Security Bureau.

Two days ago there were also violent incidents in the states of Jalisco and Guanajuato, after the army stormed a place where the alleged leaders of two criminal groups were, triggering clashes and burning of vehicles and businesses.

After these events, 16 people were arrested in Jalisco and Guanajuato, and the death of a suspect was reported.

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