MEXICAN DRUGS WAR REACHES NEW HEIGHTS

Mexico's bloody drugs war on Monday reached new heights after 10
federal police officers were killed in a single attack and 28 inmates
died following a clash of suspected rival drug gangs in a prison.

In the western state of Michoacan, where the La Familia cartel has
been waging a war to secure smuggling routes and local markets,
unidentified gunmen ambushed a convoy of federal police officers just
before noon.

State authorities said that the gunmen blocked off a road in the
municipality of Zitacuaro before opening fire on the group of police
officers. A further 15 officers, and a still-unconfirmed number of
gunmen were injured.

In a separate incident in the northern state of Sinaloa, a gunfight
between rival gang members broke out in a prison, leaving 28 dead,
according to local media reports. Most of them are understood to have
died from gunfire.

The wave of killings comes just a few days after the country's El
Universal newspaper reported that last Friday had been the bloodiest
day yet in Mexico's three-and-a-half-year war against organised crime,
with 85 people killed over 24 hours.

The centre-right administration of President Felipe Calderon has
argued such violence is a sign of weakness among the various cartels,
as the government crackdown on their illicit businesses takes its toll.

But with no sign of respite in the bloodshed, many Mexicans are
beginning to question whether authorities are going about combating
the illegal groups in the right way.

As the country prepares for important gubernatorial and municipal
elections in the first week of July, there is also a growing concern
that the violence could ratchet up as part of an intimidation campaign
by the various cartels.

Already, two candidates have bowed out of elections in the state of
Chihuahua, which until now has borne the brunt of the country's
drugs-related violence, after local groups threatened them. In May, a
candidate for Mr Calderon's National Action party (PAN) was murdered
after speaking out against the cartels.