Five officers shot dead in Mexico day before World Cup

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Mexico City: Five Mexican police officers were shot dead, and five others suffered wounds on Wednesday in the violence-plagued state of Michoacan on the eve of the World Cup opening match in Mexico City.

Local state authorities reported that unknown armed assailants ambushed the law enforcement personnel in an Indigenous region of the western state. Images obtained from the scene showed that the police pickup truck the officers were traveling in was left completely riddled with bullet holes.

The deadly ambush took place in the municipality of Nahuatzen, an area inhabited by the Purepecha people, where the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel actively operates.

The state's security department deployed police units to search for the perpetrators. Despite the close proximity of Michoacan's capital to host cities Mexico City and Guadalajara, the Mexican government strongly insists that visiting soccer fans face no security threats.