10 militants were killed and 3 police officers were injured in an exchange of fire with security forces amid battles over drug gangs in Mexico.

Security forces clashed with gunmen on Monday in one of Mexico’s most violent states, killing 10 suspected criminals and wounding three police officers, Mexican authorities said.

The exchange of gunfire took place in the early morning during a joint police and army patrol in the municipality of Yuriria Guanajuatoa central industrial area that is also home to warring drug cartels.

The Guanajuato state security department initially said eight militants were killed, but later said two more bodies had been found with gunshot wounds.

She added: “With this discovery, it was confirmed that 10 members (of a criminal group) had been neutralized.”

Security personnel used “lawful and proportionate use of force” during the clash, in which three police officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to a statement.

She added that 12 firearms were seized, in addition to a number of stolen vehicles and ballistic vests.

Drug-related violence has killed more than 450,000 people in Mexico since the government deployed the army to combat drug trafficking in 2006, according to official figures.

Gang-related violence has shown no sign of abating since then Claudia Sheinbaum She took office on October 1, becoming the first female president of Mexico.

She ruled out declaring war on gangs and instead proposed continuing her predecessor’s strategy of using social policy to tackle crime at its roots, making better use of intelligence.

The recent bloodshed in Guanajuato

GuanajuatoMexico State, an industrial and agricultural center, has for years seen the highest number of homicides of any of Mexico’s 32 states. the Jalisco CardFor and local Santa Rosa de Lima gang They remain locked in a years-long turf battle in the state.

Just last month, Eight people were killed Two others were injured after gunmen stopped at a roadside stand in Guanajuato and opened fire on customers and passers-by.

On October 4, the bodies of 12 murdered police officers were found Signs of torture Letters left by gangs were found in different areas of Salamanca, a town in Guanajuato. The state attorney general’s office also said the perpetrators left messages in which a gang claimed responsibility. The messages are They are often left on the bodies of victims By cartels seeking to threaten their rivals or punish behavior that they claim violates their rules.

The bodies were found less than 24 hours later Armed men attacked a residential centre For people suffering from addiction in the same municipality, killing four.

In June, an infant and a young child were among six members of the same family killing In Guanajuato. In April, he was a mayoral candidate He was shot dead in the street In Guanajuato when she started her election campaign.

The US State Department urges Americans to reconsider travel to Guanajuato. “Of particular concern is the high number of homicides in the southern region of the state linked to gang-related violence,” the department said in a statement. Travel warning.