Gunmen target 2 news photographers in Ciudad Juarez; 1 slain

ciudad juarez, mexico —  — Gunmen attacked two newspaper photographers Thursday in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, killing one and seriously wounding the other.

Luis Carlos Santiago and Carlos Sanchez of the Diario de Juarez were driving to lunch when gunmen in two cars intercepted them and opened fire. Santiago was killed and Sanchez was in serious condition.

Santiago started working for the newspaper two weeks ago, and Sanchez is an intern.

Mexican journalists are increasingly targeted by drug cartels seeking to control the flow of information. Several Mexican newspapers have stopped reporting on drug-gang violence after their journalists have been attacked.

Diario de Juarez, the main newspaper in the city, is not one of them.

Elsewhere in Mexico, local media reported Thursday that the military killed 22 drug gunmen in a two-hour firefight Wednesday at a ranch in the state of Tamaulipas after soldiers investigating suspicious activity touched off a gun battle.

An army spokesman would not confirm the details of the reported shooting.

In a separate incident Wednesday in the state of Nuevo Leon, soldiers killed 19 gunmen, local media said, citing official sources.