Eleven people, including eight women, were killed in simultaneous shootings at two bars in north-central Mexico, authorities said Tuesday.
Handwritten signs left at the scene of the murders suggest the attacks were part of a rivalry between two drug cartels that have been battling for control of the state of Guanajuato for several years.
Police in the town of Celaya said the attacks took place on Monday night at two bars on the same street. They said 10 of the victims died at the scene and another was pronounced dead later at a hospital.
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More than a dozen gunmen took part in the attack, Mexican newspaper El Universal reported.
Police confirmed messages were left at the scene, but did not confirm what they said. But photos posted on social media suggested the killers belonged to the Santa Rosa de Lima gang. The posts appeared to accuse the bar owners of supporting the rival Jalisco Cartel, which the Justice Department considers “one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world”.
Photos showed women – it was unclear whether they were bar staff or customers – huddled in pools of blood between tables. Part of a bar also appears to have been partially burned.
Guanajuato, a thriving industrial region home to a refinery and a major pipeline, has become one of Mexico’s most violent states due to a cartel dispute. Gangs fight for control of drug and stolen fuel smuggling routes.
In March, the charred bodies of seven people were found abandoned in a van in Celaya.
And in January, six members of a family were murdered in a rural community in the state of Guanajuato – the fifth such attack in the municipality of Silao in four months.
In March, 20 people were shot and killed at a venue often used to arrange illegal cockfighting bets in neighboring Michoacan state. A american mother out of four were among the victims.
Since December 2006, when the government launched a controversial military operation against drugs, Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 murders, according to official figures.
In April, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador confirmed that Mexico had disbanded a special unit trained by US authorities to fight drug cartels as he was infiltrated by criminals.
AFP contributed to this report.
