Six shot to death in northern Mexico: Officials

Six men have been shot to death when a gang of assailants armed with assault rifles opened fire in a used car lot in the northern Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, officials say.

The Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office said killings occurred late Tuesday, AFP reported on Wednesday.

Ciudad Juarez, a city of 1.3 million people, has seen thousands of drug-related murders in recent years.

Over 10,500 people were killed in the past six years, but the murder rate began to drop after peaking at 3,116 deaths in 2010.

Last year, 759 people were killed in the city, which sits across the border from El Paso, Texas.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since former President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against Mexico’s drug cartels in December 2006.

Current Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has vowed to reduce the crime rate as he continues the campaign against the drug cartels.