CELAYA, Mexico: Armed assailants attacked a drug rehabilitation center in Mexico, killing four people and wounding five others, local authorities said Wednesday.
The attack took place in Salamanca in the central state of Guanajuato on Tuesday night, the municipal government said in a statement.
Police and the National Guard “initiated a chase to find those responsible,” but the attackers escaped by throwing down metal spikes to puncture the tires of security forces in pursuit, it said.
Police said three bodies of those killed were found inside the rehab center while a fourth was found in the street.
No suspects have been arrested yet.
Disputes between drug gangs have led to rehab centers being targeted in several attacks in Mexico.
Authorities say some rehab centers are used as safe havens by suspected members of criminal groups, who are attacked by their rivals when found.
Guanajuato is Mexico’s most violent state, according to official homicide statistics, due to fighting between the local Santa Rosa de Lima cartel and the powerful Jalisco New Generation.
Mexico has recorded more than 450,000 murders since December 2006, when a controversial military anti-drug operation was launched.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A former Singaporean cabinet minister was sentenced Thursday to a year in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of receiving illegal gifts, in a rare criminal case involving a minister in the Asian financial hub.
Former Transport Minister S. Iswaran had pleaded guilty last week to one count of obstructing justice and four of accepting gifts from people with whom he had official business. He was the first minister to be charged and imprisoned in nearly half a century.
Justice Vincent Hoong, in his ruling, said holders of high office “must be expected to avoid any perception that they are susceptible to influence by pecuniary benefits,” according to Channel News Asia.
“I am of the view it is appropriate to impose a sentence in excess of both parties’ positions,” Hoong was quoted as saying.
The defense had asked for no more than eight weeks in prison, while the prosecution had pushed for six to seven months imprisonment.
Iswaran, 62, was initially charged with 35 counts, but prosecutors proceeded with only five, while reducing two counts of corruption to receiving illegal gifts. Prosecutors said they will apply for the remaining 30 charges to be taken into consideration for sentencing. No reasons were given for the move.
Iswaran received gifts worth over 74,000 Singapore dollars ($57,000) from Ong Beng Seng, a Singapore-based Malaysian property tycoon, and businessperson Lum Kok Seng. The gifts included tickets to Singapore’s Formula 1 race, wine and whisky and a luxury Brompton bike. Ong owns the right to the local F1 race, and Iswaran was chair of and later adviser to the Grand Prix’s steering committee.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers said it will decide whether to charge Ong and Lum after the case against Iswaran has been resolved.
Singapore ‘s ministers are among the world’s best-paid. Although the amount involved in Iswaran’s case appeared to be relatively minor, his indictment is an embarrassment to the ruling People’s Action Party, which prides itself on a clean image.
The last Cabinet minister charged with graft was Wee Toon Boon, who was found guilty in 1975 and jailed for accepting gifts in exchange for helping a businessperson. Another Cabinet minister was investigated for graft in 1986, but died before charges were filed.
Iswaran had resigned just before he was charged. His trial comes just over four months after Singapore installed new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong after Lee Hsien Loong stepped down after 20 years.