Gunbattle kills 11 in Mexican town

A Mexican pilgrim carries an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico's patron saint, upon arrival for the annual celebration held at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, early yesterday. Photo: AFP

A gunbattle between rival gangs killed 11 people during a Virgin of Guadalupe celebration in a western Mexican town, authorities said Saturday.
Armed men arrived in three cars and opened fire on another group of gunmen in the main plaza of Tecalitlan just as a crowd was gathering Friday night, the Jalisco state attorney general's office said in a statement. One of the gunmen hurled a grenade.
Eight men were killed at the scene and two others died at a hospital, the office said.
Another man, the brother of one of those killed in the plaza, was found shot to death next to a car on the highway just outside the small town, the statement said.
Inside the car, which had been reported stolen, authorities found two banners. One read: "We haven't come to kill innocent people. We've come for El Zopilote." The other said: "We do not charge quotas."
Photographs of the aftermath showed overturned chairs in front of a stage where a mariachi band was set to play. A large image of the Virgin of Guadalupe loomed over the scene.
Police were investigating whether the death of two other men, whose torched remains were found inside a car in the nearby town of Zapotiltic, were tied to the Tecalitlan shootout.