Gunmen kill eight in Mexico

September 2nd, 2009 Security official shot dead in western MexicoMEXICO CITY — Gunmen have killed the No. 2 security official in the home state of President Felipe Calderon, where drug cartels have launched their biggest offensive yet against the government.

August 29th, 2009 Gunmen kill 5 police in shootout in western MexicoMEXICO CITY — A convoy of gunmen engaged state police in a running shootout Friday that killed five officers and possibly one of the attackers in the western Mexico state of Jalisco, authorities said. The state attorney general's office said the gunbattle began when a convoy of seven vehicles carrying at least 30 gunmen approached state policemen on a local highway.

August 27th, 2009 Mexican debtors group founder attacked, son killedMEXICO CITY — A founder of Mexico's most influential debtors group was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt that killed his son, officials said Thursday. Gunmen in a car opened fire on Maximiano Barbosa, who also is a former federal congressman, at a recreation center that he owns in the western town of Tlaquepaque, said Uriel Vargas, a spokesman for the debtors group El Barzon.

August 20th, 2009 Report: 52 Mexican reporters killed in last decadeMEXICO CITY — The head of Mexico's National Human Rights commission said Wednesday that 52 journalists or media workers have been killed in the last decade and that most of the slayings remain unsolved. Seven other reporters went missing and six newspaper offices were attacked with explosives over the same period, commission president Jose Luis Soberanes said.

August 7th, 2009 Shootouts in Mexico leave at least 11 deadPACHUCA, Mexico — Eleven people are dead following a running battle between police and gunmen in the central Mexican city of Pachuca. Hidalgo state police director Donanciano Millan says the dead include two police officers and nine gunmen.

August 1st, 2009 Gunmen kill 6 in Mexico border-city pool hallMEXICO CITY — Mexican police say assailants gunned down five men and a woman in a pool hall in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. Two more shooting victims have been hospitalized in serious condition.

June 26th, 2009 12 killed in shootout in central MexicoMEXICO CITY — A shootout between police and suspected cartel hit men in central Mexico Friday left at least 12 people dead and one police officer wounded, officials said. Guanajuato state Attorney General Carlos Zamarripa said police and soldiers were checking a report of armed men at a building in the town of Apaseo el Alto when assailants opened fire and lobbed grenades at them.

June 14th, 2009 Soldiers capture 25 gunmen in northern MexicoMEXICO CITY — The Mexican army has captured 25 gunmen in northern Mexico who witnesses say disguised themselves as soldiers. The men were captured at a ranch in the state of Chihuahua, across from Texas, after the army received a complaint, the Defense Department said in a statement Sunday.

June 13th, 2009 Former gov't official killed in IngushetiaNAZRAN, Russia — Officials say gunmen have killed a former top government minister in the violence-plagued Russian region of Ingushetia. Bashir Aushev's killing was the latest in a string of assassinations that have highlighted the North Caucasus' turmoil.

June 8th, 2009 MEXICO CITY - At least 18 people were killed in a gun battle between the military and suspected members of a drug gang in Mexico's resort city of Acapulco, the defence ministry said Sunday. Two soldiers and 16 gunmen were killed in the shootout that began Saturday night after the army raided an area in the Las Playas neighbourhood following a tip-off about the presence of the drug cartel members, EFE reported.

May 18th, 2009 MEXICO CITY - Some 20 gunmen wearing police uniforms managed to enter a prison and helped 53 inmates escape in the northern Mexican state of Zacatecas, officials said. The incident occurred Saturday in Cineguillas penitentiary, located some 30 km from provincial capital Zacatecas, and all the inmates who escaped belonged to the Gulf drug cartel, Zacatecas Governor Amalia Garcia said.

May 6th, 2009 Gunmen kill Mexican journalist in northern stateMEXICO CITY — Gunmen killed a columnist for a newspaper in a northern Mexican state plagued by kidnappings and drug violence, authorities said Tuesday. A motive hadn't been determined.

April 21st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Two people, including a legislative assembly deputy speaker, were shot dead in an attack late Monday in northern Pakistan, Geo TV reported. According to the report, some unidentified gunmen opened fire on the car of Syed Asad Zaidi, the deputy speaker of Northern Areas Legislative Assembly (NALA), in Kashrot area of Gilgit, killing him on the spot.

February 10th, 2009 KABUL - Suicide bombers and Taliban gunmen stormed Afghanistan's justice ministry and two other places in Kabul Wednesday, leaving at least three attackers dead, media reports said. Xinhua reported that the first explosion targeted a police vehicle in Khair Khana district north of Kabul.

December 25th, 2008 ISLAMABAD - Unidentified gunmen shot dead a government official and three other people Friday in northern Pakistan, the police said. Abdul Wahid, director of agriculture department, was killed when his car came under attack near Gilgit, capital city of the Northern Areas, News Network International (NNI) news agency quoted police as saying.