[ 2011-06-08 ]

Two people survived by hiding under beds, officials said

Mexico gunmen kill 11 at Torreon drugs clinic
Gunmen have attacked a drugs treatment centre in
northern Mexico, killing 11 people and injuring
two others.

Police said at least two armed men burst into the
centre in Torreon, in Coahuila state, and opened
fire.

Dozens of people have been killed over the past
two years at such centres, in what officials say
are often revenge attacks on rival drug gang
members.

In another development, officials say 429 bodies
have been found since April in graves in Durango
and Tamaulipas.

On Tuesday afternoon, gunmen in at least two
vehicles drew up at La Victoria drugs clinic in
Torreon and stormed inside, police said.

Two of the people being treated there survived by
hiding under their beds.

The motive for the shooting was not clear but
officials said it was likely to be the work of
drug gang hitmen.

'Splintering'

Forensic teams working on mass graves discovered
earlier this year have now found a total of 236
bodies in the northern state of Durango, Mexico's
Attorney General Marisela Morales said at a news
conference on Tuesday.

Many of the corpses appeared to have been buried
for a considerable time, increasing the difficulty
of identification, she said.

Ms Morales said it appeared the victims were
killed in an internal battle for control within
the Sinaloa cartel.

In the town of San Fernando in Tamaulipas, 193
bodies have now been found in 47 clandestine
graves.

Most are believed to be migrants abducted from
long-distance buses travelling north to the US
border.

Officials believe cartel hitmen may have killed
the migrants after they refused to join their
ranks or seized them to extort money.

Ms Morales, who was recently appointed, said that
the drug gangs had been weakened by the
government's actions.

Cartels were splintering into smaller groups and
fighting among themselves for control of drug
routes, she said.

"Colombia lived through the same phenomenon and it
is how the fight against organised crime evolves,"
Ms Morales said.

Since late December 2006, when President Felipe
Calderon launched a crackdown on the gangs, some
35,000 people have died in drug-related violence.

Source - BBC

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