MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – At least 11 people were killed by an armed gang yesterday in the Mexican Gulf coast state of Veracruz, where drug-related violence flared this autumn, before five of the gunmen were shot dead by security forces.
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 (100 km) southwest of the port of Tampico, killing seven others.
Five armed men were killed in a shootout with security forces, she said.
The death toll from the bus shootings could be as high as 20, a local mayor told Milenio television.
The motive was unclear. The attacks came the day after the state government said it disbanded the municipal police force in the city of Veracruz, some 300 miles (480 km) south of Tampico.