At least 12 dead & 12 injured as gunmen storm Christmas party in Mexico’s ‘most violent state’

AT least 12 people have been killed and a dozen injured following a shooting at a Christmas party in Mexico early on Sunday.

Police said that gunmen opened fire on revellers as they left the packed venue in Mexico's most murderous state of Guanajuato.

"So far 12 people are reported dead," the state's prosecutor's office said on X/Twitter, adding that the 12 wounded have been taken to hospital in the town of Salvatierra.

Local media said the victims - all believed to be friends - were leaving the event hall following a Christmas party known as a "posada" when they were gunned down.

One unnamed witness said that six men with long guns entered the venue and began circulating among the 100 or so young people gathered at the event.

"We realised they were not invited, and when they were asked who they were, they started shooting."

Salvatierra Mayor German Cervantes posted on Facebook: "I condemn the unfortunate act of violence that occurred in the community of San Jose del Carmen this morning.

"We are thoroughly cooperating with the prosecutor's office."

Mexico's north-central state of Guanajuato has long had the highest number of homicides in Mexico as bloody turf battles rage between the Jalisco cartel and local gangs backed by the Sinaloa cartel.

Three years ago, in the city of some 90,000, authorities discovered unmarked graves with at least 50 bodies.

In a separate incident late Saturday some 31 miles away from Salvatierra, four men were shot dead in the city of Salamanca, also in Guanajuato, when attackers on motorcycles arrived at a barber shop and opened fire, local officials said.

Similar attacks have been recorded in recent years in Guanajuato, which has experienced 3,029 homicides so far this year.

Meanwhile, in the Caribbean coast resort of Tulum, three men were shot to death and four people were wounded in an attack at a bar Sunday, authorities said.

Prosecutors said a preliminary investigation indicated the shooting "may have been a dispute involving retail drug sales, and for that reason the safety of the public and that of our visitors, was never at risk."

But shootouts between local drug gangs in Tulum have killed tourists who were caught in the crossfire in the past.