Mexican Police Killed In Ambush

Gunmen ambushed and killed five state police officers on a mountain road in Mexico’s western state of Guerrero, the government said.

The attack occurred Friday near the village of Xalmolapa, 105 miles northeast of Acapulco, the official Notimex news agency said.

An unspecified number of men with automatic rifles attacked the officers in their pickup truck, Notimex said, quoting the state attorney general’s office. The motive was not immediately clear.

On Wednesday, 12 people, including two children, were shot to death near San Rafael, also on a rural road. And a week earlier, 17 people were killed by state police just outside Acapulco. Authorities say they see no link, but the slaying of 34 people in nine days has stunned Guerrero, even though the state has long had a reputation for lawlessness.