eliminate
d.
A gun attack on a birthday party in northern Mexico has left at least 17 people dead. Police said gunmen arrived at a bar in the city of Torreon in five vehicles in the early hours of the morning and opened fire with automatic weapons. Julian Miglierini reports from Mexico City.
A spokesperson for Mexico's attorney general's office told the BBC that the attack is believed to have been carried out by an organized crime gang. The state of Coahuila where Torreon is located is thought to be a stronghold of the powerful Zetas cartel. But their control over this territory is now said to be facing a challenge from their former allies - the Gulf cartel -
in an alliance with
the Sinaloa cartel led by Joaquin Guzman, Mexico's most wanted man. This
turf
war has increased violence in Coahuila of which this latest attack is one of the most gruesome examples.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have signed an important trade agreement, during a visit to the region by the American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The deal allows Afghan trucks to use a land route through Pakistan to carry goods to India. It will also give
landlocked
Afghanistan access to Pakistani ports to increase its trade with the rest of the world.
World News from the BBC
During her visit to the region, Mrs Clinton told the BBC there was more confidence and openness in relations between the two countries, but the problems still remained. She said the United States wanted Pakistan to do more to