Prison riot shakes Ciudad Juarez

The last thing violence-ridden northern Mexico needed was a deadly prison riot. Alas, it happened today:

At least 20 people have been killed during a prison riot in the troubled Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, local authorities have said.

Violence erupted at about 6am (13:00 GMT) between three rival gangs at the city's state prison, Carlos Gonzalez, Chihuahua state police spokesman, told the Associated Press news agency on Wednesday.

At least two of those killed were police officers, Red Cross medical sources told Reuters news agency.

It has also been reported that the prisoners were armed and had set fire to several cell blocks.

The riot occurred in a week where 7000 federal troops were deployed to regain control of a city dominated by drug gangs. Dozens of these officers were called upon to quell the uprising at the Cereso prison.

Admiral Mike Mullen- chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff- is expected to arrive in Mexico later this week in order to discuss the spillover of violence into the U.S. as well as counternarcotics efforts.

Image- CNN
Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, BBC News, AFP