Troops kill 10 suspects in Mexico shootout
2013-03-20 11:00
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Toluca - Mexican soldiers and police killed 10 suspected criminals in a shootout in a mountainous region outside Mexico City on Tuesday, with the gunmen lobbing a grenade at the authorities, officials said.
The troops were conducting a routine inspection in the town of Pinal del Marquesado, some 150km west of the capital, when they came under fire, said the security agency of central Mexico state.
"While repelling the shooting, military personnel and state police killed the 10 passengers of the attacking vehicle," the agency said in a statement.
The security forces seized a grenade launcher, five AK-47 and two AR-15 assault rifles, 13 rifle magazines and several bullets. The troops were not hit by the grenade.
The gunfight took place near the western state of Michoacan, one of the hardest hit regions in a drug war that has left more than 70 000 people dead nationwide since 2006.
The government has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers and marines in the streets of Mexico since December 2006 to battle the country's drug cartels.
