Mexico City: Thirteen suspected drug cartel members died on Monday in a shootout with authorities in the troubled Mexican state of Sinaloa, officials said.

Another four suspects were arrested and nine people kidnapped by the gang were freed following the clash in Guasave, a municipality in the northwestern state, Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch said in a social media post.

He said security personnel carrying out a patrol were attacked by gunmen hiding under a bridge, prompting officers to respond.

After the firefight the law enforcement officers also seized seven vehicles, high-powered weapons, and tactical equipment, Garcia Harfuch said.

Sinaloa has been rocked for more than a year by a conflict between factions of a powerful local cartel. The violence has left at least 1,700 people dead, 57 of them minors, and nearly 2,000 missing.

The cartel's internal war began after the capture of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the group's historical leader, who was betrayed and taken to the United States in July 2024 by a son of his former partner, Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman.

AFP