Gangs clash kills 12 in Guatemala
2/12/2008 15:55
Guatemalan police said yesterday that 12 deaths were reported a day
earlier after an armed clash between two drug trafficking gangs in the northwest
of Guatemala.
Guatemala's Civil National Police said the shooting began
Sunday in the small northwestern town of Agua Zarca, a few kilometers away from
the border with Mexico, according to news reports from Guatemala City.
The
clash lasted from noon to late night, killing 12 people, the reports said.
A
local radio station said the number of deaths was 18, and that two women were
injured by shots.
Authorities seized hand grenades and high power fusils at
the site, as well as nine cars.
Another radio station said the dead were
identified as drug traffickers from Mexico and Guatemala. It is said the two
gangs began to quarrel during a horse race and started shooting later.
Police
were now investigating if the incident was linked to last week's clash in the
northern city of Coban, which claimed no victims.
Xinhua
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