25 killed in Mexican drug violence

A Mexican Navy soldier stands guard as seven tons of seized cocaine are incinerated on August 4 at the naval base in Huatulco, Oaxaca state. Photo: AFPAFP, Pachuca

At least 25 people were killed in drug-related violence in the Mexican states of Hidalgo and Chihuahua, law enforcement officials said Friday.

In the central Mexican state of Hidalgo, a clash between suspected drug cartel members and police claimed at least 12 lives, while 13 people were murdered in drug-related violence in the northern state of Chihuahua.

"Two police officers were killed and another police officer died in hospital after the incident," said Hidalgo police spokesman Donaciano Millan of the incident late Thursday.

"We do not yet have the names of the nine criminals who were killed," he added.

Police were searching for two missing federal agents when the deadly clash started after they came across three trucks with heavily armed men transporting three kilos of cocaine and about 99,000 dollars in cash, Millan said.

Meanwhile, in the violent northern border state of Chihuahua, 13 people were murdered in different late Thursday incidents, including eight killed in Ciudad Juarez, across the border with Texas, officials said Friday.

Some 2,800 people were murdered in 2008 and 2009 in drug related incidents in Ciudad Juarez, with a population of about 1.5 million, even though the federal government has sent 8,500 soldiers to try to maintain peace in the border city.

Some 9,600 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since the start of 2008, despite a military clampdown involving some 40,000 troops deployed across the country.

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