19 KILLED IN ABDUCTIONS, SHOOTOUT IN MEXICO

HERMOSILLO, MEXICO -- Police killed 15 gunmen Wednesday in a fierce
battle after tracking assailants believed to have abducted and killed
four policemen.

About 40 armed assailants, whose tactics and weaponry resembled those
of drug gangs, drove into the Mexican town of Cananea, 20 miles south
of the Arizona border, and seized four policemen, Sonora state police
said in a statement.

The bullet-riddled bodies of the four, along with 50 spent
cartridges, were found alongside a road hours later.

The gunmen tried to hole up in mountainous terrain around the town of
Arizpe, about 50 miles south of Cananea.

The shootout began after police followed the assailants there, the
Sonoran government said.