Hitmen kill three in deadly fire

From correspondents in Ciudad Juarez Article from: Agence France-Presse VIOLENCE linked to organised crime spiralled to a new high in Mexico's Chihuahua state where 17 people were killed yesterday. Among the dead were three young men shot dead by hitmen in a hail of automatic weapons fire, police said. President Felipe Calderon has sent some 36,000 federal troops into key areas controlled by trafficking organisations, especially into Sinaloa, one of the states most hit by drug-related violence. But so far this year, more than 500 people have been killed in the surging organised crime wave. Last month the US government approved a $US1.6 billion ($A1.64 billion), three-year package of anti-drug assistance to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean known as the Merida Initiative, a large part of which is expected to strengthen... [read full story]