By IANS/EFE,
Oaxaca (Mexico) : Nine people, including two soldiers, were killed in a shootout between security personnel and gunmen in Mexico’s Tuxtepec city, police said.
The incident occurred Tuesday near the border between Oaxaca and Veracruz states, where suspected rival groups shot at one another and then opened fire on arriving army troops, police said.
“Several residents saw criminals running through the streets of the city” before the shooting started, a police report said.
The shootout led to a panicky situation in schools and businesses and brought activities to a standstill in the city.
Later, the Public Safety Secretariat deployed police in the area where the shootout occurred to provide support for investigators and maintain order.
Mexico has been plagued for quite some time now by drug-related violence.
Last year was the deadliest in Mexico in the past decade, with 7,724 people killed in violent incidents attributed to organised crime groups, the El Universal newspaper reported.
Drug-related violence has claimed lives of nearly 2,200 people so far this year, it said.