Thirteen people, including eight policemen, were killed and three wounded in a shooting attack on a police convoy escorting ministry officials in Mexico.

Thirteen people, including eight policemen, were killed and three wounded in a shooting attack on a police convoy in Mexico.

Gunmen ambushed a police convoy accompanying ministry officials in Harina, mexico state, in the southern part of the country, Mexican media reported.

8 policemen, 5 civil servants, 13 people were killed and 3 policemen were injured in the convoy, which was cross-fired with long-barrelled weapons.

The attackers fled the scene.

The injured were taken to nearby hospitals.

Authorities say ambushed police are carrying out operations against increased criminal activity in the area.

In a joint statement, the State Prosecutor’s Office and the Mexican State Secretariat for Security said the attackers belonged to drug trafficking cartels.

The National Guard has been dispatched to the area to apprehend the attackers.

More than 300,000 people have so far been killed in Mexico’s spiral of violence caused by the 2006 war against cartels, which is still unsup victorious. More than 340,000 Mexicans have been displaced, and about 40,000 have disappeared.