Gunmen kill 13 youths at Mexico party

Gunmen stormed two neighbouring homes and massacred 13 young people at a birthday party in the latest large-scale attack in this violent border city, even as a new government strategy seeks to restore order with social programs and massive police deployments.

Attackers in two vehicles pulled up to the houses in a lower middle-class Ciudad Juarez neighbourhood late on Friday and opened fire on dozens of youths at 15-year-old boy's party.

The dead identified so far were 13 to 32 years old, including six women and girls, Chihuahua state attorney general, Carlos Salas, told reporters at the crime scene. The majority of the victims were high school students, a survivor said.

Relatives of the victims gathered outside prosecutors' office, some weeping laments, some shouting demands for justice. All asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.

"Why, my God, why," shouted the mother of Daniel Figueroa, 16, after she identified her son's body.

"I want to be dead, with my daughter," the mother of a 19-year-old woman killed in the attack told a reporter. "This cannot go on. We want justice, even though nothing can bring her back."

Salas said a total of 20 people were wounded, including a nine-year-old boy. Authorities earlier gave lower numbers for the wounded because some victims were taken by relatives to hospitals throughout the city and were not immediately located.