16 people killed in shootouts in southern Mexico

MEXICO CITY, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Two shootouts between armed men and the police left 10 alleged gang members and six officers killed in Mexico's coastal town of Zihuatanejo, in the southern state of Guerrero, the local government announced on Wednesday.

Guerrero's security spokesperson, Roberto Alvarez Heredia, said that the clashes had happened on Tuesday afternoon.

His statement revealed that the first shootout happened in the community of Coacuyul, when a gang opened first on a police patrol.

The fight lasted around 30 minutes, with the police officers shooting dead 10 gunmen.

Minutes later, another patrol was attacked in the community of Las Mesillas, leaving six dead policemen.

"The attorney-general of the state has begun an investigation into these events and has not removed the possibility that the ambush was a reaction to the clash that took place nearby in the community of Coacuyul," explained Alvarez Heredia.

Guerrero has been the most violent state in Mexico for the last two years, with over 2,200 murders a year. This is seen as the result of ongoing gang wars between around 20 criminal groups for the control of marijuana and heroin and their illegal trafficking.

In the last week alone, gunmen wounded another two federal police officers in an ambush in the state. Enditem