Armed attackers ambushed & took lives of six Mexican police officers and left 2 civilians dead in an attack in El Mezquital, Mexico, on Thursday.

Another 7 cops were injured in the attack. Authorities said an investigation was launched.

The cops were intercepted by gunmen at a turn in a road near the town of San Antonio de Padua.

State prosecutor Ruth Medina said that cars abandoned by the assailants were marked with blood, suggesting that some of the shooters may have been injured.

Mexican officials struggle with woeful clearance rates for homicides. The nation experienced a brutally violent 2019, with more than 35K homicides logged in an official count.