At least fourteen dead in attack on prison in Ciudad Juarez in Mexico

The penitentiary establishment contains several members of the two main cartels which have competed for years for the control of this city in the north of the country.

mo12345lemonde with AFP

At least fourteen people died, including ten guards, in the armed attack of an Ciudad Juarez prison, Sunday 1 er January. The Office of the State Prosecutor of Chihuahua said that the attack had also made four injured, and that at least twenty-four detainees had escaped.

The attack occurred at dawn, when armed men arrived in armored vehicles and opened fire on the guards.

At the same time, families of detainees were waiting to enter the prison to visit relatives on the occasion of the new year.

According to the first elements of the investigation, the attack was intended to facilitate the escape of a group of prisoners. 2>

Cartels of Sinaloa and Juarez

With the assistance of the army, the police made four arrests, added the prosecutor’s office. He did not specify whether they were escaped prisoners or attackers.

The prison of this city in northern Mexico, on the border with the United States, contains members of the armed branches of the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels, which have been fighting for the control of the city for more than fifteen years .