At least 14 people were killed, including 10 guards, and 24 inmates escaped during an armed commando attack on a prison in the northern Mexican city of Juarez City, on the US border. The local authorities reported it.
“14 people, including 10 security and custodial officers and four detainees, were confirmed dead, as well as 13 injured and at least 24 escaped detainees,” the Chihuahua state attorney’s office said in a statement. The attack occurred in the early hours of the day, when armed men arrived at the prison in armored vehicles and opened fire on the guards as family members waited to enter the facility for their New Year’s visit.
According to initial investigations, the armed assault was intended to facilitate the escape of a group of prisoners. After the attack, the state police, with the help of the army, made four arrests, the prosecutor’s office added, without specifying whether they were escaped prisoners or the attackers. The prison houses members of the armed wings of the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels, who have been vying for control of the city for more than 15 years.