Eleven suspected crime syndicate gunmen were killed in a shootout with soldiers along a highway in eastern Mexico, a senior official said Saturday."During the encounter 11 heavily armed criminals were killed" and another eight arrested, Javier Duarte, governor of Veracruz state, where the shootout took place, told reporters.The gunfire erupted when soldiers conducting an operation against a suspected criminal cell were confronted by armed men in a group of vehicles.Mexico is in the grip of a brutal wave of largely drug-related violence that has killed some 37,000 people since President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown on organized crime in 2006.
11 killed in shootout with Mexican troops
