At least 15 people have been killed in a nightclub shooting in Mexico. The attack happened at La Playa men’s club in Salamanca in Guanajuato state - one of Mexico’s most violent regions. Witnesses say armed men pulled up in three vans, burst into the club and opened fire.

"Wounded people rushed out,” said one local resident, “running for their vehicles. And then the whole night, they were taking bodies out."

Criminal violence in the region centers around the theft of fuel from a nearby oil refinery. Earlier in the week, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, launched an offensive to capture a local gang leader thought to be involved in fuel trafficking. </s> At least 15 men died following a shooting at a nightclub in central Mexico, officials said Saturday.

Another four people, three men and a woman, suffered injuries, a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office told Agence-France Presse.

The club lies in Guanajuato state, where authorities have launched an operation against criminal gangs involved in fuel theft.

The attack took place in the early hours Saturday as several heavily armed men opened fire at the La Playa nightclub in Salamanca before making off in a vehicle, the spokesman said.

Salamanca is the site of the main pipeline of the state oil company, where fuel thieves have cost the firm around $3 billion over the last few years. </s> MEXICO CITY: At least 15 people were killed and another seven wounded in a shooting at a nightclub early on Saturday in Mexico’s violence-wracked Guanajuato state, according to the local prosecutor’s office.

It was not immediately clear who committed the crime. Before sunrise, a group of armed men pulled up in three vans at the La Playa Men’s Club in the city of Salamanca, burst into the premises and opened fire, local media reported.

Powerful oil theft gangs have stolen vast quantities of fuel from Salamanca’s oil refinery. This week President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launched a major offensive to capture local gang leader Jose Antonio Yepez, known as “El Marro.”

According to a statement from the Guanajuato state prosecutor’s office, 13 men were found dead in the nightclub, and another two died after being taken to hospital. It added that its agents were investigating the crime.

Salamanca lies in Guanajuato state, part of the country’s industrial heartland that was a magnet for carmakers such as Volkswagen AG, General Motors Co and Toyota Motor Corp, but it suffered a doubling of murders last year, making it one of Mexico’s most violent regions, official data shows.

Lopez Obrador took office on Dec. 1, vowing to fight crime in a new way. </s> According to Al Jazeera, the authorities in the state of Guanajuato have launched an operation against criminal gangs involved

Blood is seen on the pavement of the nightclub where at least 15 men were killed in an attack in Salamanca, Guanajuato state, Mexico. Pic/AFP

Guanajuato (Mexico): At least 15 people were killed at a nightclub on Saturday.

Citing local media, Al Jazeera reported that seven people were also injured in the early hours of Saturday when a group of armed men pulled up in three vans at the La Playa Men's Club in the city of Salamanca and opened fire.

According to Al Jazeera, the authorities in the state of Guanajuato have launched an operation against criminal gangs involved.

It is pertinent to note that Salamanca, which is a site of the main pipeline of the state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) is where fuel thieves have cost the firm around 3bn USD in recent years. </s> MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - At least 15 people were killed and another seven wounded in a shooting at a nightclub early on Saturday in Mexico’s violence-wracked Guanajuato state, according to the local prosecutor’s office.

It was not immediately clear who committed the crime. Before sunrise, a group of armed men pulled up in three vans at the La Playa Men’s Club in the city of Salamanca, burst into the premises and opened fire, local media reported.

Powerful oil theft gangs have stolen vast quantities of fuel from Salamanca’s oil refinery. This week President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launched a major offensive to capture local gang leader Jose Antonio Yepez, known as “El Marro.”

A video taken after the shooting from the street near the nightclub showed a line of police vehicles. A woman wailed uncontrollably in the background as an ambulance drove into the area.

According to a statement from the Guanajuato state prosecutor’s office, 13 men were found dead in the nightclub, and another two died after being taken to hospital. It added that its agents were investigating the crime.

Salamanca lies in Guanajuato state, part of the country’s industrial heartland that was a magnet for carmakers such as Volkswagen AG, General Motors Co and Toyota Motor Corp, but it suffered a doubling of murders last year, making it one of Mexico’s most violent regions, official data shows.

More than a decade after the launch of a militarized effort against drug cartels that has led to some of Mexico’s bloodiest years on record, the latest effort will test the new government’s ability to curtail the reach of organized crime.

Lopez Obrador took office on Dec. 1, vowing to fight crime in a new way. </s> At least 15 men have died following a shooting at a nightclub in central Mexico, prosecutors said Saturday.

The nightclub lies in Guanajuato state, where authorities have launched an operation against criminal gangs involved in fuel theft. </s> MEXICO CITY, March 9 (Reuters) - At least 15 people were killed and another seven wounded in a shooting at a nightclub early on Saturday in Mexico’s violence-wracked Guanajuato state, according to the local prosecutor’s office.

A video taken after the shooting from the street near the nightclub showed a line of police vehicles. A woman wailed uncontrollably in the background as an ambulance drove into the area.

More than a decade after the launch of a militarized effort against drug cartels that has led to some of Mexico’s bloodiest years on record, the latest effort will test the new government’s ability to curtail the reach of organized crime. </s> At least 15 people have been killed in a shooting at a nightclub in Mexico's violence-wracked Guanajuato state, according to prosecutors.

Local media reported that another seven people were injured before sunrise on Saturday when a group of armed men pulled up in three vans at the La Playa Men's Club in the city of Salamanca, burst into the premises, and opened fire.

A video taken after the shooting from the street near the bar showed a line of police vehicles and a woman wailing uncontrollably in the background as an ambulance drove into the area.

Authorities in central Mexico's Guanajuato state have launched an operation against criminal gangs involved in fuel theft.

Salamanca, site of the main pipeline belonging to state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), is where fuel thieves have cost the firm around $3bn in recent years.

More than a decade after the introduction of a militarised effort against drug cartels that has led to some of Mexico's bloodiest years on record, the latest effort will test the new government's ability to curtail the reach of organised crime.

In late January, a fake bomb was found in a car parked close to the refinery.

 

Nearby, signs were found threatening Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and demanding that he withdraw soldiers fighting against fuel theft gangs from the area.

Obrador took office on December 1, 2018, vowing to step up the fight against crime.

 

Salamanca is less than 100km from Santa Rosa de Lima, where a few days ago authorities conducted an operation against Juan Antonio Yepez, the alleged leader of a fuel-stealing cartel.

Guanajuato state suffered a doubling of murders last year, making it one of Mexico's most violent regions, official data shows. </s> At least 23 people were killed and another 13 severely injured when assailants attacked a night club in Mexico's Gulf coast port city of Coatzacoalcos.

The attack, which started on Tuesday night, killed 8 women and 15 men.

Read more: Against the current: Femicide in Mexico on the rise and growing more brutal

Local media reported men first opened fire with maschine guns and then threw Molotov cocktails inside the El Caballo Blanco (The White Horse) table dance bar when it was packed full of people.

Pictures on the night club's Facebook page show images of dancers, customers, walls painted with nude women and "VIP rooms."

The attorney-general's office said they were working with police to investigate and find the perpetrators.

Veracruz Governor Cuitlahuac Garcia Jimenez said that the "criminals" would not go unpunished.

"In Veracruz criminal groups are no longer tolerated," he wrote on Twitter.

Veracruz is one of the most violent states in Mexico with fierce fighting between criminal groups for control of drug trafficking and other criminal activities.

So far this year, more than 1,600 people have died from violence in the state, an average of seven deaths per day.

Some local media likened the attack to one in 2011 on a bar in Monterey that killed 52 people.

The Zetas drug cartel carried out that attack using fire and guns to enforce demands for protection payments.

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A mass shooting at a nightclub in Salamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico, kills at least 15 people and leaves another seven people wounded.