4 killed during football game in Mexican city

Ciudad Juarez (Mexico), Dec 23 (IANS/EFE) Four people, including two minors, were shot dead and another was wounded while playing soccer in this Mexican city, authorities said.

The attack was perpetrated Tuesday afternoon by at least two gunmen who arrived at the scene in an SUV, the Chihuahua state Attorney General’s Office said.

The victims, whose identities and precise ages were not revealed, were playing soccer in the Riberas del Bravo neighbourhood on Juarez’s southeast side, municipal police spokespersons said.

The two minors were brothers who lived a few streets away from the soccer field, according to witnesses, who added that the assailants forced their victims to get on their knees before opening fire.

The wounded man was taken to a local clinic for emergency care.

Eleven young people were killed and another was wounded Nov 6 in an attack carried out by suspected drug cartel hit men at a home in Ciudad Juarez. On Jan 31, another 15 young people were killed by purported drug mob gunmen during a party at a Juarez residence.

More than 3,100 people, or close to nine per day, have been killed thus far this year in Mexico’s murder capital.

–IANS/EFE