Mexico drug gang targets police, troops; 5 dead

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) - A series of coordinated attacks in at least seven Mexican cities killed three federal police officers and two soldiers Saturday in what officials are calling an unprecedented onslaught by drug gangs, reports said.

In addition, six police officers were reported wounded in the attacks, which came in response to the recent capture of a high-raking member of the drug gang La Familia (The Family).

Men armed with high-powered rifles and grenades launched the attacks in the cities of Morelia, Zitacuaro, Zamora, Lazaro Cardenas, Apatzingan, La Piedad and Huetamo in Michoacan state, the government-run Notimex news agency said.

The three officers were killed in Zitacuaro, police official Eduardo Moran told CNN en Español. The six officers were wounded in Morelia, the newspaper El Universal reported, while the two soldiers were killed in Zamora, the newspaper said on its Web site.