11 Shot Dead in Mexican Rehab Center

At least 11 people were killed in an attack on a Mexican rehabilitation center on Monday, and another eight people were wounded.

“The armed attackers came on two pickup trucks, entered the center and opened fire,” a police official, who requested anonymity, told AFP. The drug rehabilitation center, operated by a church group, is located in the northwestern city of Torreon.

Officials said the gunmen were armed with AR-15 assault rifles and pistols.

The center was swarming with army and police patrols, who have established security checkpoints to prevent another attack in case the gunmen returns to kill the witnesses.

In 2010, approximately 30 armed men shot up a drug treatment in Chihuahua, killing 19 people and four others.

The region is notorious for violence between the Sinaloa cartel and rival Los Zetas over the smuggling trade into the United States.

More than 50,000 have been killed in drug-related violence since Mexican President Felipe Calderon directed the army to crack down on cartels in 2006.