May 2 (Reuters) - Following are selected incidents that took place during the past week in Mexico's escalating war on powerful drug cartels.
More than 38,000 people have died since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched his military campaign on drugs when he took office in 2006.
TEPIC - Suspected drug hitmen killed eight people including two minors at a birthday party in the city of Tepic in the western coastal state of Nayarit on Tuesday, the state attorney general's office said. A motive for the crime was not immediately clear, the state government said.
CIUDAD JUAREZ - Gunmen shot at five party-goers in the city of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday, killing two of them and badly injuring the other three, police said. The attack in a working class district of the city was close to the site of a similar massacre a year ago, when drug hitmen shot dead 18 people at a party.
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