Soldiers shoot 27 drug cartel suspects and free hostages

Soldiers killed at least 27 suspected cartel members yesterday in a raid and gun-battle in a state near the American border that has become one of the most dangerous battlegrounds in Mexico's drug war.

A military aircraft flying over Ciudad Mier in Tamaulipas state spotted several gunmen in front of a building, according to a statement from the Mexican defence department.

When ground troops moved in, gunmen opened fire, starting a battle in which 27 suspected gangsters died, the military claimed.

Its statement said two soldiers were also wounded in the ensuing gunfight.

Three people believed to be kidnap victims were rescued during the raid, according to the official statement. The military said troops also seized 25 rifles, four grenades, 4,200 rounds of ammunition and 23 vehicles.

Earlier, a military spokesman said the gunmen were believed to be on a property controlled by the Zetas, who started out as a gang of drug assassins but have since evolved into a powerful drug trafficking cartel.

Some local media reported 27 suspected cartel members were shot dead, citing unnamed police officials.

Violence has rocketed in northeastern Mexico this year since the Zetas broke ranks with their former employer, the Gulf cartel, resulting in a flare-up of drug killings in Tamaulipas.

Last week, Mexican marines discovered the bodies of 72 Central and South American migrants believed to have been gunned down by the Zetas after refusing to work for their cartel, in what may be the worst drug gang massacres to date. The migrants' bodies were found at a ranch about 100 miles from the United States border in Tamaulipas.

Five days later, the mayor of the Tamaulipas town of Hidalgo was ambushed and killed in his car in an attack that also left his daughter wounded.

In June, gunmen ambushed and killed the leading candidate for state governor a week before regional elections. And in May a mayoral candidate in Tamaulipas was assassinated. Drug violence has claimed more than 28,000 lives since President Felipe Calderon intensified a crackdown on drug cartels after taking office in late 2006. However, the president's campaign scored a success earlier this week, when a fugitive known as "La Barbie", who allegedly led a murderous drug smuggling network, be- came the third alleged drug lord to fall in Mexico in the past ten months .

Edgar Valdez Villarreal is wanted in the US for allegedly smuggling tons of cocaine. In Mexico, he is blamed for a brutal turf war that has seen bodies hung from bridges, beheadings and shootouts as he and a rival fought for control of the Beltran Leyva cartel. He was captured outside Mexico City by an elite squad of federal police. Four other people, described by police as Valdez's inner security circle, were arrested with him.The Federal Police Commissioner Rosas Facundo said that Valdez was responsible for dozens of deaths, although he could not specify how many.

Two other Beltran Leyva brothers have been arrested under drug war hard-liner Mr Calderon, who in 2006 deployed thousands of federal police and soldiers to fight drug-traffickers in their strongholds.