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Gunmen killed at least 11 people in an attack on a hotel and two bars in the city of Celaya in central Mexico, security officials said Tuesday.
Police in the city of Celaya said the attacks occurred late Monday at two bars on the same street. They said 10 of the victims died at the scene, and another was declared dead at a hospital later.
Officials found the dead bodies upon arrival in the neighborhood of Valle Hermoso after reports of gunfire, the unit said in a statement.
Witnesses said the victims were shot, after which the attackers poured gasoline to set the establishments on fire.
They said the bodies were scattered among plastic tables and chairs, and one was lying on the sidewalk.
More than a dozen gunmen took part in the attack, Mexican newspaper El Universal reported.
A known criminal group of the region left behind calling cards claiming the massacre.
Guanajuato, a thriving industrial region that hosts a refinery and a major pipeline, has become one of Mexico’s most violent states due to a dispute between the Santa Rosa de Lima and Jalisco New Generation cartels. The Department of Justice considers the Jalisco cartel to be “one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world.”
The gangs fight for control of trafficking routes for drugs and stolen fuel.
In March, 20 people were shot and killed at a venue often used for hosting illegal betting on cockfights in the neighboring state of Michoacan. An American mother of four was among the victims.
Since December 2006, when the government launched a controversial military anti-drug operation, Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 murders, according to official figures.
In April, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador confirmed that Mexico had dissolved a special unit trained by U.S. authorities to fight drug cartels because it was infiltrated by criminals.
