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WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday offered her "deepest sympathies" to the families of two Americans and a Mexican with ties to the US consulate, who were fatally shot in the Mexican border city of Juarez.
"Today the men and women of the Department of State are mourning the murder of three people connected to the United States Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico," Clinton said in a statement.
"I offer my deepest sympathies to the family, loved ones and colleagues of these victims," she said following the fatal drive-by shootings late Saturday.
"The safety and security of our personnel and their families in Mexico and at posts around the world is always our highest priority. I have spoken with our ambassador in Mexico, and we are working with the government of Mexico to do everything necessary to protect our people and to ensure that the perpetrators of these horrendous acts are brought to justice," Clinton said.
She also deplored the increase in border-region violence in Mexico, which has seen thousands of people killed in recent years, in what officials say are turf battles between warring drug cartels.
Especially hard-hit is Ciudad Juarez, a city of some 1.3 million people just across the US border from El Paso, Texas, which is Mexico's most violent city.
"These appalling assaults on members of our own State Department family are, sadly, part of a growing tragedy besetting many communities in Mexico," Clinton said, pledging Washington's "continued commitment to work closely with the government of President (Felipe) Calderon to cripple the influence of trafficking organizations at work in Mexico."
"This is a responsibility we must shoulder together, particularly in border communities where strong bonds of history, culture, and common interest bind the Mexican and the American people closely together," Clinton said.
- AFP/sc
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