Mexico City - A clash between hundreds of federal forces and alleged drug traffickers left three dead including a police officer in the city of Durango in northern Mexico, authorities said Wednesday. General Moises Melo, of the Tenth Military Zone, said two military officers were injured in the clash, in which five suspects were arrested.
The incident, part of the Mexican government's years-long use of the military to crack down on the ever-more-violent drug trade, follows by just days a clash between soldiers and drug gang suspects in the southern Pacific resort of Acapulco that left at least 17 people dead.
The latest violence happened in the residential neighbourhood Las Brisas in Durango, about 1,000 kilometres north-west of Mexico City.
According to television reports, the clash, involving about 300 military officers, started at around 8:30 pm Tuesday and lasted several hours, causing panic among residents of the area.
Military officers cordoned several blocks during the shootout, and students of two nearby schools - who were still in class - were not allowed out until the incident ended.
The authorities did not specify what drug gang was involved.
The incident took place just four days after a clash between the Army and alleged members of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel left 17 dead in the southern Mexican beach resort city of Acapulco.
Over 8,200 people - including hundreds of police and military officers - have been killed in Mexico since January 2008 in incidents linked to organized crime.
