Attackers kill 10 at Mexican drug rehab centre

MEXICO CITY – A group of men attacked a drug rehabilitation centre in central Mexico and killed 10 people there, authorities in the state of Guanajuato said Sunday.

The attack occurred around 4 p.m. Saturday at the Beginning a New Life centre in the city of Irapuato. Nine people died immediately and another in a local hospital.

Guanajuato has been plagued recently by drug gang disputes and Irapuato has been especially hard hit. In December, another armed gang kidnapped 20 youths from another rehabilitation centre in the city and four others were kidnapped at a third centre in February.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has blamed past governments for the problem.

“ It’s not enough to achieve economic growth, because Guanajuato is one of the states with the most sustained economic growth,” he said. “Nevertheless, it is the state iwth the most violence.” He blamed causes such as inequality.

Federal officials have reported more than 11,500 homicides so far this year in Mexico, with more than 1,500 of those in Guanajuato state.