10 Mexican police killed in ambush, government says

(News Today) - Ten Mexican federal police were killed and several others wounded in an ambush on a convoy Monday, the government said.

An undisclosed number of criminals also were killed and wounded, the government's Information Ministry said in a release.

Preliminary reports indicated a total of 26 dead, the government-run Notimex news agency reported.

The attack occurred in the city of Zitacuaro, in the central coastal Mexican state of Michoacan, the ministry said. The convoy had originated in the city of Hidalgo and was on its way to Mexico City.

In a separate incident in coastal northwestern Mexico, a prison uprising in the city of Culiacan left 18 dead, Notimex said. The carnage occurred Monday morning in the state of Sinaloa, home to the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

An AK-47 assault rifle and two large-caliber handguns were confiscated, Notimex said.

The police officers wounded in the convoy ambush were taken to hospitals in Mexico City and Morelia, another city in Michoacan state, the information ministry said. They were being protected under heavy guard.

Preliminary information indicated that the four-truck police convoy was attacked after the criminals blocked the road with a bus that had been set on fire, Notimex said.

The news agency said two other attacks were mounted against police in separate parts of Zitacuaro.

No further information on any of the incidents was immediately available.

Violence in Mexico has skyrocketed since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the nation's drug cartels shortly after taking office in December 2006. More than 22,000 people have died in drug violence during that time period, the government said recently.

Source : CNN

Posted in: