**Three people connected to the US consulate in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez have been killed, the White House has said.**They include a consulate employee and her husband, both American, and the Mexican husband of another employee.
The White House said President Barack Obama was “outraged” by the murders and would work with Mexican officials to bring the killers to justice.
Mexico is battling a drug war that has killed some 18,000 people since 2006.
Meanwhile, the State Department has authorised government employees at six US consulates in northern Mexico to send their family members out of the area over concerns about rising drug-related violence.
The six consulates are in the border cities of Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros.
Drug wars
The three victims were killed in drive-by shootings on Saturday afternoon, a US official told the BBC on condition of anonymity, citing privacy considerations.
“The president is deeply saddened and outraged by the news,” White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement.
“In concert with Mexican authorities, we will work tirelessly to bring their killers to justice,” he added.
The White House statement did not provide any details of the incident in Ciudad Juarez, where more than 2,600 people were murdered last year in drug-related violence.
Recent violent attacks have led the US Embassy in Mexico City to advise American citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of the Mexican states of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua, the State Department said in a statement on Sunday.
On Saturday, 13 people were killed in an outbreak of drug-related violence in the southern Mexican beach resort of Acapulco, officials said.
Acapulco is one of Mexico’s biggest tourist resorts, but in recent years it has been the scene of bloody turf wars between rival drug cartels.