President Barack Obama condemned Sunday the killing of three people related to the US consulate in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, according to dpa. An American employee at the consulate, her husband and the husband of a Mexican employee of the mission were killed in a drive-by shooting Saturday afternoon, CNN reported. "The president is deeply saddened and outraged by the news of the brutal murders of three people associated with the United States Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez," National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement. "He extends his condolences to the families and condemns these attacks on consular and diplomatic personnel serving at our foreign missions. In concert with Mexican authorities, we will work tirelessly to bring their killers to justice," the statement said. Ciudad Juarez, in the state of Chihuahua and across the border from the US city of El Paso, Texas, is the most violent city in Mexico, reporting more than 2,600 killings in 2009. Across Mexico, 7,000 people were killed last year in incidents linked to organized crime, mostly related to drug trafficking. In response to the latest killings, the US State Department authorized the temporary relocation of employees' families working in six consulates in the border area.
