7 police officers killed in Acapulco

At least seven officers were killed in the resort city of Acapulco, Mexico, when more than a dozen armed assailants staged simultaneous attacks against two police stations on Tuesday.

The attacks took place shortly before 11 a.m. in two neighbourhoods about 15 kilometres north of the tourist zone, said Enrique Gil Mercado, special prosecutor for the attorney general's office in the state of Guerrero, which includes Acapulco.

Four of the officers were killed at the station in the Emiliano Zapata neighbourhood, while three were killed in the Ciudad del Renacimiento neighbourhood, Gil said.

About eight men armed with assault weapons participated in each attack. Gil said he did not immediately know how many people were injured.

All the attackers escaped, including one who fled on foot, and other city police stations were evacuated as a precaution, Formato 21 radio reported.

Police did not comment on the possible motive for Tuesday's attacks.

Acapulco has suffered a wave of killings as rival drug cartels fight over coastal smuggling routes. Control over a burgeoning local drug market is another motivation for the violence.

Last year, the heads of at least six police officers and alleged drug smugglers were found in the resort and nearby towns. One washed up on a beach in the tourist zone. The rest were dumped on streets.

President Felipe Calderon, who took power in December, has sent more than 24,000 federal police and soldiers to regions ravaged by drug violence. More than 7,000 troops arrived in the Acapulco region last month.

Tourists have not been immune to Acapulco's violence.

Two Ontarianswere injured in a drive-by shooting outside their hotel in Acapulco last Saturday night.

Stray bullets from a semi-automatic weapon struck the two touristsin their lower legs, causing minor injuries.

Weeks earlier, Adam DePrisco, 19, of Woodbridge, Ont., was killed in Acapulco. A Mexican doctor blamed the teen's death on a hit-and-run, but his family and friends allege he was beaten to death.