Mexico highway shootout leaves 10 armed men dead, 4 police injured

A shootout on a northern Mexican highway left 10 suspected criminals dead and four police officers injured, authorities said late on Monday.

"Police officers managed to kill 10 heavily armed suspected criminals on the Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo highway," an official statement said. The clash took place Monday afternoon after officers were attacked, it said.

Four police officers were injured, the statement added, though all were reported to be in stable condition.

The authorities said they seized 12 large-calibre weapons, grenades, a hundred pieces of ammunition as well as three armoured trucks.

The shootout comes as the country struggles with drug cartel violence and a high homicide rate.

In the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi early on Tuesday, two members of the armed forces were killed in an attack by suspected organised crime members, according to a separate statement by authorities.