By IANS/EFE,
Mexico City : Gunmen opened fire on people attending a birthday party at a ranch in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, killing 17 people and wounding 18, an official said.
The motive for the Sunday attack, which was carried out by assailants armed with rifles near the city of Torreon, is not known, a spokesman of the attorney general’s office said.
Indications, however, are that the attack was staged by gunmen working for organised crime groups, the spokesman said.
The gunmen opened fire on the partygoers, killing 11 men and six women.
The wounded partygoers were transported to different hospitals for treatment.
The party took place at the Italia estate in the community of San Luis.
Coahuila is one of the states that has been affected by the war between Los Zetas, a band of Mexican special forces deserters turned hired guns, and the Gulf cartel.
After several years as the armed wing of the Gulf cartel, Los Zetas went into the drug business on their own account and now control several lucrative territories.