Mexico gunfight kills 43 as government hits gang hard

A convoy of federal policemen patrol near a ranch where a gunfight between hitmen and federal forces left several casualties in Tanhuato, state of Michoacan, May 22, 2015. REUTERS/Alan Ortega

ZAMORA, Mexico (Reuters) - Government security forces killed 42 suspected drug cartel henchmen and suffered one fatality in a firefight in western Mexico on Friday, an official said, one of the bloodiest shootouts in a decade of gang violence wracking the country.

National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido said one federal policeman died and another was injured in the three hour battle on a ranch just inside the Michoacan state border with Jalisco, home of Guadalajara, Mexico's second-biggest city.