International Desk: At least 12 killed and three others wounded while gunmen have opened fire in a bar in the central Mexican city of Irapuato on Saturday evening, reports Al Jazeera.

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The shooting left 6 men and 6 women dead in the attack which took place around 8pm (local time).

The city government said in a statement, the security officials were trying to track down the assailants. The identities of the shooters remained unknown.

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The motive behind the shooting was not immediately clear. The state of Guanajuato, a car manufacturing hub, has been beset by brutal gang violence in recent years. Amid a war between two powerful rival cartels.

Last month, gunmen shot dead 10 people in an attack at a bar in the Guanajuato town of Tarimoro, about 96km (60 miles) southeast of Irapuato.

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Earlier this month, gunmen allegedly affiliated with a drug gang killed 20 people, including a mayor, in an attack in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, local officials said.

President Lopez Obrador was criticised by civil society and human rights groups last month for giving the military control over the civilian National Guard.

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Journalists and environmental activists have been targeted by the violence in Mexico and have chastised the president for what his critics see as a lacklustre commitment to protecting such groups.

Sun News/MR

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