Nine killed in clashes between Mexican soldiers, armed civilians

Nine people were killed in two clashes Tuesday between Mexican military troops and groups of armed civilians claiming to be self-defense forces.

Both incidents took place in Apatzingan, a town in Mexico's central state of Michoacan, which has been battered in recent years by drug violence.

The incidents also left four people injured and 44 people arrested, Alfredo Castillo, the federal government commissioner for Security and Integral Development in the state, said at a press conference.

In the first incident early in the day, violence broke out as troops attempted to remove a group of about 50 people gathered since mid-December at Apatzingan's City Hall, said Castillo.

According to Castillo, the group, which described itself as a self-defense force, fired at the soldiers first and one person was run over as he tried to flee the scene.

After the clash, soldiers detained 44 people and seized weapons and some 23 vehicles suspected of being stolen, authorities said.

The second incident occurred shortly before noon, when soldiers transporting the confiscated vehicles were confronted by armed civilians reportedly attempting to recover the vehicles.

In the second clash, eight people died from probable gunshot wounds, said Castillo.

Michoacan is one of Mexico's most violence-racked states, due to frequent clashes between rival drug gangs, and citizen self- defense groups are common in many of its smaller towns. Enditem