Shootings in Mexico's Veracruz kill 16

MEXICO CITY?? At least 11 people were killed by an armed gang on Thursday in the Mexican Gulf coast state of Veracruz, where drug-related violence flared this autumn, before five gunmen were shot dead by security forces.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. Boehner announces deal with Reid on end to payroll tax impasse
   2. Was Shroud created in a flash? Claims rise again
   3. Ian Horn for msnbc.com Small businesses see D.C. as big threat
   4. AP Tax fraud claimed in Huguette Clark estate
   5. How prostitution and raw milk could give Ron Paul problems
   6. Despite ?Don?t Ask? repeal, some gays still don?t tell
   7. A contagion of conflict in China?

A spokeswoman for the state government told local television the gunmen killed four people in the small town of El Higo then attacked three buses on a highway about 60 miles southwest of the port of Tampico, killing seven others.

Five armed men were killed in a shootout with security forces, the spokeswoman said.

Story: Mexico disbands entire police force in top port of Veracruz

Mexican authorities in October blamed a surge of killings in the city of Veracruz ? some 300 miles south of Tampico ? on a group linked to the country's most powerful drug lord, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman.

Guzman has been fighting a turf war with the violent Zetas cartel, which authorities say controls Veracruz.

More than 45,000 people have been killed since President Felipe Calderon launched a war on drug cartels in late 2006.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Advertise | AdChoices Advertise | AdChoices Advertise | AdChoices

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45770652/ns/world_news-americas/

bean bag chairs android tablet arthur christmas asus transformer nebraska football nebraska football online deals