Clashes with criminal gangs in Mexico left seven police officers dead, while five more bodies were found in other parts of the country, officials said. Four policemen were killed Sunday in an ambush as they responded to reports of a traffic accident in Brisenas in the western central state of Michoaca, the state prosecutor said. Six others were injured in the incident, five seriously.

Later Sunday, "armed civilians travelled from Michoacan to [the neighbouring state of] Jalisco and clashed with police in the town of Ayotlan," a state security spokesman said.

Copyright Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 2012