| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico 
Ten Police Killed in Mexico Ambush
 Agence France-Presse
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June 14, 2010
| | A Mexican policeman stands guard next to a bus burnt during an attack to a police convoy in Zitacuaro, Michoacan state. | |
Morelia, Mexico - Gunmen ambushed police Monday in Mexico's crime-infested western state of Michoacan, killing 10 officers and wounding several others, authorities said.
The early morning attack took place in the western town of Zitacuaro and several assailants were killed in the exchange of gunfire, officials from Mexico's Public Security Ministry said.
"During the assault, federal police returned fire, killing several of the attackers, and injuring others," a press release said.
Michoacan is the headquarters for the notorious "La Familia" cartel, known as one of Mexico's deadliest drug-trafficking organizations, which has a history of violent confrontations with the federal police.
The ambush occurred as uniformed police officers traveled by car through the town of Zitacuaro en route to the Mexican capital.
After the assault, soldiers and fedsral police cordoned off the area and launched a manhunt for the surviving attackers, who remain at large.
Police said the attackers succeeded in removing the dead and wounded from the scene before fleeing.
The attack occurred around 7:30 am local time (1230 GMT) and was followed by other violent exchanges and skirmishes near the ambush scene.
"La Familia," which is said to be the top producer of synthetic drugs in Mexico, unleashed a similar bloody assault against police last July that led to the deaths of 16 officers.
In another recent attack, the drug cartel kidnapped 12 federal police officers, decapitating their captives before dumping the bodies on a busy highway.
Michoacan is the home province of President Felipe Calderon, and is the province where he launched his nationwide crackdown against drug-trafficking, deploying some 50,000 police across Mexico nearly four years ago.
The government's ramped-up efforts against illegal drugs, launched in December 2006, have led to waves of violence that have wracked Mexico ever since, especially along its northern border with the United States, and claimed more than 22,700 lives so far.
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