Mexican security forces kill 11 gunmen in gun battle – World

MEXICO CITY: Mexican security forces killed 11 gunmen Wednesday after a chase and shootout in the country’s northeast, authorities said, the latest in a series of clashes between drug cartels.

An armed suspect has been arrested and weapons and vehicles have been seized, the Nuevo Leon state government said in a statement.

A ground and air manhunt was launched after a command post was attacked, but no casualties among security forces were reported.

Later, security personnel chased gunmen in a convoy of about eight pickup trucks, sparking a gunfight in the municipality of Los Ramones, the statement said.

“The result was 11 criminals killed,” the report said. The arrested suspect was seen on a highway dressed in camouflage and carrying a weapon and tactical gear, it added.

In Mexico, clashes between security forces and suspected cartel members are common.

Rising crime, much of it linked to drug trafficking and gangs, has seen more than 450,000 people killed in the Latin American country since 2006.

In the northwestern state of Sinaloa, home to one of the country’s most powerful and violent drug gangs, dozens of people have been killed this month in infighting between drug cartels.

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The violence follows the surprise arrest on US soil in late July of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, which is believed to have sparked an internal power struggle.

Outgoing President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, who steps down next week, has championed a “hugs, not bullets” strategy to tackle violent crime at its roots by combating poverty and inequality with social programs.