Massacre alarms city

MEXICO CITY (AP):

Gunmen killed six young men yesterday in a gritty neighbourhood of the Mexican capital, an alarming attack in a city that has largely been spared the kind of mass shootings common in drug-trafficking hot spots.

Mexico City Attorney General Miguel Angel Mancera said he did not know if drug gangs were involved in the middle-of-the night shooting in Tepito, a working-class neighbourhood just north of the colonial centre. Drug dealing is rampant there, but Mancera said there also have been problems with disputes among carjacking gangs.

Still, the attack fueled fears of cartel-style violence reaching Mexico City.

Frequent attacks

"Massacres have arrived in the Federal District," declared El Universal newspaper, counting the shooting as the latest in a string of massacres that have occurred across the country over the past week.

Another attack occurred near the border city of Ciudad Juarez early yesterday: a gang opened fire on two passenger buses carrying factory workers, killing four people and injuring more than a dozen.