Mexican gunbattle between rival border gangs leaves 21 dead

HERMOSILLO: A gunbattle between rival drug- and migrant-trafficking gangs near the United States border left 21 people dead yesterday, Mexican prosecutors said.

The clash occurred in a sparsely populated area about 20km from the Arizona border - a prime corridor for immigrant and drug smuggling.

The state of Sonora's Attorney-General's Office said that nine people were captured by police. Six of them had been wounded in the confrontation. Authorities found seven rifles.

Officials did not say why the gunfight had broken out, but powerful Mexican gangs often fight for control of smuggling routes into the US.

In a city on another part of the US border, gunmen killed an assistant attorney-general for Chihuahua state and one of her bodyguards.

After being chased by assailants through the streets of Ciudad Juarez, the vehicle carrying Sandra Salas Garcia and two bodyguards was riddled with bullets.

- AP