Thread: 10 Mexican federal police killed in attack (Now 15)

10 Mexican federal police killed in attack

Posted 4m ago

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Ten federal police officers were killed Monday after being attacked by unidentified gunmen near a vocational high school in western Mexico.

The officers were returning from a patrol when they came under fire from the gang in the city of Zitacuaro in western Michoacan state, the federal Public Safety Department said in a statement.

An unspecified number of officers were wounded in the attack and were taken to hospitals in Mexico City and the Michoacan state capital, Morelia, for treatment, the statement said. Several assailants were also killed or wounded, but officials did not provide an exact number.

Brutal drug-gang violence has swept Michoacan, a state known for its picturesque colonial capital, beaches and Monarch butterfly sanctuary. The state is a stronghold of La Familia, a cartel known for beheading its rivals and staging bold attacks on government security forces.

Police did not immediately identify the attackers or indicate whether they are suspected of being gunmen for La Familia cartel. But the Public Safety Department did say the assailants picked up their wounded and dead and fled with them, a tactic often used by Mexico's drug cartels.

Michoacan cartel gunmen have been known for staging violent attacks on law enforcement personnel in the past: In 2009, the bloodied and tortured bodies of 12 federal agents were found dumped along a highway in Michoacan in one of the worst single attacks against government forces.

The U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning urging U.S. citizens "to exercise extreme caution when traveling in Michoacan."

Nationwide, more than 22,700 people have been killed in drug violence since the government began its offensive against cartels in late 2006.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010 ... xico_N.htm

Gunmen kill 15 Mexican officers in 2 attacks

Violence marks one of the bloodiest days for security forces

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
updated 1 hour, 24 minutes ago

MEXICO CITY - Gunmen killed 15 federal police officers Monday in separate attacks in two drug-plagued states, marking one of the bloodiest days for security forces since the government stepped up its fight with drug cartels.

Twelve officers died in an ambush near a high school in the western state of Michoacan, while assailants killed three more officers in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez.

The latest in a series of mass slayings came as President Felipe Calderon defended his crackdown on traffickers in an essay on his office's website. He vowed he won't back down despite criticism that violence has only surged since he deployed thousands of troops and federal police in late 2006 seeking to crush the cartels.

"I'm clearly convinced that we would be in a much worse situation if we hadn't decided to fight criminals," Calderon wrote in the 5,000-word essay, which was published by several newspapers.

"If we remain with our arms crossed, we will remain in the hands of organized crime, we will always live in fear," the president said in the essay, which also blames Mexico's violence on the United States' voracious appetitive for illegal drugs.

In the ambush in Michoacan, Calderon's home state, officers riding in four pickup trucks were returning from a patrol when they came under fire in the city of Zitacuaro, the federal Public Safety Department said in a statement.

Ten officers died on the spot and two more on the way to a hospital. Thirteen other officers with wounds were taken to hospitals in Mexico City, the nearby city of Toluca and to the Michoacan state capital, Morelia, the Michoacan Public Safety Department said in a statement.

The federal safety department said several assailants were also killed or wounded, but officials did not provide a number

In a separate statement, the department said gunmen killed three federal officers patrolling in Ciudad Juarez, a violence-plagued city across the border from El Paso, Texas. One officer was wounded, the statement said.

Also Monday, three gunmen were killed in a clash with soldiers in Michoacan. Two soldiers were wounded, the state attorney general's office said. It said one of the attackers was detained.

Brutal drug-gang violence has swept Michoacan, a state known for its picturesque colonial capital, beaches and Monarch butterfly sanctuary, and as the place where Calderon first launched his crackdown. The state is a stronghold of La Familia, a cartel known for beheading its rivals and making bold attacks on government security forces.

Among attacks on law enforcement, the bloodied and tortured bodies of 12 federal agents were found last year dumped along a highway in Michoacan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37697869/ns ... -americas/