CELAYA, Mexico, Jan 7, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Security forces clashed with gunmen on Monday in one of Mexico's most violent states, leaving eight suspected criminals dead and three police officers injured, authorities said.

The early morning shootout happened during a security patrol in the municipality of Yuriria in Guanajuato, a central industrial region that is also home to warring drug cartels.

"As a result of the operation, three state police officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries while eight alleged aggressors lost their lives after a legitimate and proportional use of force," the Guanajuato state security department said.

A dozen firearms were seized along with several stolen vehicles and ballistic vests, it said in a statement.

Violence in Guanajuato is linked to ongoing conflict between the local Santa Rosa de Lima gang and the Jalisco New Generation cartel, one of the most powerful in the Latin American nation.

Drug-related violence has seen more than 450,000 people killed in Mexico since the government deployed the army to combat trafficking in 2006, according to official figures.

And gang-related violence has shown no sign of abating since Claudia Sheinbaum took office on October 1, becoming Mexico's first woman president.

She has ruled out declaring war on the cartels and instead proposed to continue her predecessor's strategy of using social policy to tackle crime at its roots, while also making better use of intelligence.