Convoy of gunmen kills 5 policemen in running shootout along highway in western Mexico

Gunmen kill 5 police in shootout in western Mexico

MEXICO CITY — A convoy of gunmen engaged state police in a running shootout Friday that killed five officers and possibly one of the attackers in the western Mexico state of Jalisco, authorities said.

The state attorney general’s office said the gunbattle began when a convoy of seven vehicles carrying at least 30 gunmen approached state policemen on a local highway.

Four policemen died in the initial fighting and another officer was killed when police gave chase to the assailants. The body of a dead man was found in one of the vehicles involved in the gunbattle and might be one of the assailants.

The attackers and their motive had not yet been identified.

More than 13,500 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against cartels after taking office in late 2006.

In the northern state of Nuevo Leon, state Public Safety Secretary Aldo Fasci said about 2,000 police officers across the state had been fired over the last two years for suspected links to organized crime and drug cartels. Speaking at a meeting of private security firms Thursday, he said 500 others were dismissed for other causes.

Authorities in Nuevo Leon have launched a crackdown on corruption, with army and federal forces raiding several municipal police stations during June and July, confiscating weapons and arresting dozens of officers.

Policemen have also been prohibited from using cell phones, which were supposedly used to tip off criminals.