Items lie on the ground aftermath of an operation, where alleged criminals were arrested, and at least dozen killed, according to authorities, in the municipality of Rayon, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, in this handout image released on August 5, 2022. | SAN LUIS POTOSI STATE CIVIL GUARD/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

State police in north-central Mexico killed 13 alleged gang members in a shootout the same day they captured four people burying one of their officers and a relative, authorities said Friday.

The San Luis Potosi state security agency said in a statement the clash occurred Thursday evening in the Vaqueros community in Rayon municipality.

Among the victims were 10 men and three women. Authorities did not report any wounded state police.

The San Luis Potosi state prosecutor's office said weapons, tactical gear and vehicles were seized. Thursday's operation was the result of intelligence gathered after police arrested four people as they buried a member of the state police and a relative earlier Thursday, the office said.

Last month, in San Luis Potosi state, the bound bodies of four people were found in the burned-out wreckage of a helicopter, along with signs indicating they were killed by a drug gang.

In the southern state of Guerrero, authorities said Friday they had found six bodies with bullet wounds and two heads nearby.

The Guerrero state prosecutor's office said the remains were found near a burned out and shot up vehicle in the municipality of Quechultenango.

Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador continues to face stubbornly high rates of violence more than midway through his 6-year term. The president has emphasized attacking violence with social programs rather than head-on confrontations with the country's powerful drug cartels.

"I am absolutely convinced that you can't confront violence with violence, coercive measures are not enough, that is the conservative, authoritarian vision," López Obrador said last month.

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