Intense Gunfight Kills 43 in Troubled Mexico Region

Local Editor

Mexican federal forces killed at least 42 suspected cartel members during a three-hour gunfight on a ranch in a violence-torn western region,marking one of the drug war's bloodiest battles.

Only one federal police officer was killed in the operation, which authorities launched after learning that "armed criminals" were occupying the ranch in Tanhuato, Michoacan state, near the neighboring state of Jalisco, officials said.

"Up to now, we have counted 42 suspected criminals killed and three more detained," said National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido.

Further, Rubido said the death toll was a "preliminary figure," suggesting the number could rise as investigators comb the vast property.

While he did not name the gang by name, Rubido said it was based in Jalisco, home of the New Generation drug cartel, a powerful heavily armed group that had become the top target of President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration.

The cartel, which has links to gangs as far away as Asia and traffics drugs to the United States, had taken Mexican authorities head-on this year, killing 20 police officers in two ambushes in March and April.

On May 1, the government launched Operation Jalisco against the cartel. That same day, the gang killed seven troops and a policewoman when they downed a military helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team