A small group of gunmens attacks in a Mexican strip club in a hail of bullets and killed at least 26 people and as they trapped revellers inside and started a raging fire, officials said. The attack, which officials said also left 11 people badly wounded, is the latest to rock the state of Veracruz.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador condemned it as “shameful” attack in the city of Coatzacoalcos, and said federal authorities would investigate evidence that it may have stemmed from collusion between the State Prosecutor’s office and organised crime. The attack is the latest to rock the State of Veracruz, a flashpoint in bloody turf wars between rival drug cartels and a hotbed of political corruption.
Mexico has been hit by a wave of violence since declaring war on drugs and deploying the army to fight its powerful cartels in 2006. Since then, more than 2,50,000 people have been murdered, including a record 33,753 last year.
The situation in Veracruz has been particularly grim. Jailed ex-Governor Javier Duarte (2010-2016) is accused of presiding over a rash of corruption and human-rights abuses.
Two former State police chiefs and a string of ex-officials have been charged with running hit squads that abducted and presumably killed unwanted individuals during Duarte’s administration.
26 killed in firing at Mexican strip club
