25 drug gang members killed

AT least 25 suspected drug gang members were killed in an army raid in rural northeastern Mexico, the army said in a press release.

Soldiers were sent to the location after an airborne patrol sighted armed men outside a building. Fighting began when the men opened fire on the troops.

Three people who presumably had been kidnapped by the gang were freed following the fighting. Two soldiers were wounded.

Troops seized 23 vehicles, including two painted in army colours, two dozen guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

The clash was originally reported to have taken place in the state of Nuevo Leon, where business hub Monterrey is located, but actually took place across the border in neighbouring Tamaulipas.

Tamaulipas state has become one of Mexico’s bloodiest drug flashpoints since the start of the year, as rival hitmen from the Gulf cartel and its former armed wing, the Zetas, fight over smuggling routes into the USA.