Several Mexican state police have been killed in an ambush by suspected gang members in the west of the country, authorities said on Tuesday, the second major attack on security forces in less than a month in the region.
Local media reported as many as 15 state police were killed in the ambush on Monday afternoon at Soyatan in the western state of Jalisco, a growing flashpoint for violence in Mexico.
A state government official said she could not specify yet how many police had died but that it was a significant number.
Another official said it could have been more than 10. The Jalisco attorney general's office said in a statement that "several of our forces" were struck by bullets in the incident, without giving further details.
A Jalisco official said suspected gang members also died in the fight, but could not say how many.
Jalisco is home to Mexico's second biggest city, Guadalajara, and has been plagued by the Jalisco New Generation (JNG), a violent drug cartel that crime experts now regard as one of the biggest threats to security in the country.
Last month, five members of Mexico's new militarized federal police force were killed in a bloody ambush carried out by suspected gang members southeast of Guadalajara.
{{/usCountry}}Last month, five members of Mexico's new militarized federal police force were killed in a bloody ambush carried out by suspected gang members southeast of Guadalajara.
{{/usCountry}}Three suspected gangsters and two other people also died in the gunfight, which Mexican media blamed on the JNG.