Gunmen shoot at office building of respected Mexican newspaper in Sinaloa capital Culiacan.

Gunmen have fired on a building housing the respected Mexican media outlet El Debate as part of an ongoing drug cartel battle.

The media building was sprayed with gunfire on Friday and several cars outside were also damaged.

The paper said no one was injured in the attack. The El Debate newspaper is based in the state capital Culiacan, where there has been a surge in violent gun battles between rival gangs of the Sinaloa Cartel since September. The newspaper has been publishing stories about the gang attacks in the northwestern state.

El Debate said the assailants arrived in two vehicles and stopped briefly in front of the building. One gunman got out and opened fire with a rifle before they sped off.

Journalists threatened

Threats against journalists and their sources have increased since the latest round of fighting broke out.

Journalists have reported being stopped by gunmen on roadways outside Culiacan and told they could not cover the continuing gun battles happening on the outskirts.

The Mexican Media Alliance, a press freedom group, calls this shooting “a direct attack against press freedom and right of the public to be informed”.

Being a journalist in Mexico is dangerous business, according to Reporters Without Borders. The organisation has documented the death and disappearance of reporters in the country. In the last six years alone, 37 have been killed and five have disappeared.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said she “condemns” the attack against El Debate.

Her government has sent military personnel with armoured vehicles and high-powered weapons to Sinaloa to protect the population, but the troops have struggled to quell the violence.