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Penitentiary in Ciudad Juárez after the attack
Photo: Luis Torres/EPA
At least 14 people were killed when an armed commando attacked a prison in northern Mexico on Sunday.
According to the Chihuahua state prosecutor's office, the attackers appeared in armored vehicles in front of the detention center in Ciudad Juárez on New Year's morning and opened fire on the guards to allow inmates to escape.
At least 24 inmates managed to escape.
When the attack began, crowds of people were waiting in front of the prison to visit their detained relatives on New Year's Day.
According to the prosecutor, four people were injured;
the authorities initially spoke of 13 injuries.
Ten prison guards were among the 14 killed.
Police and soldiers arrested four people, the prosecutor said.
It was initially not clear whether those arrested were attackers or prisoners who had escaped.
Border town repeatedly at the center of violence
The city of Ciudad Juárez, with a population of 1.5 million, lies on the border with the USA and has been suffering from the violence of drug cartels for years, who are fighting for control of smuggling routes into the USA.
The prison there houses members of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Juárez Cartel, who have been fighting for dominance in the city for more than 15 years.
Mexico has been experiencing an escalation of violence for a long time.
Drug cartels and other criminal groups are numerous, often linked to corrupt politicians and security forces, and vying for control.
In 2021, an average of 94 murders per day were registered in the Latin American country with around 126 million inhabitants.
Most homicides are never solved.
Again and again, bystanders get caught in the crossfire of gang crime.
jok/AFP