Mexico police shoot at US embassy car

MORELOS: Mexican federal police shot at a US diplomatic car as they chased criminals south of Mexico City on Friday, in a chaotic incident that left two US embassy employees wounded.

The two staffers were treated for their wounds at a hospital and were out of danger, the Mexican and US governments said, in separate statements. A Mexican marine who was riding with them suffered light wounds.

The Mexican navy and public security ministry said in a joint statement that federal police officers were conducting anti-crime operations in the area when the incident took place.

The US embassy trio was heading to a military installation in the town of El Capulin when they were approached by a vehicle whose unidentified passengers displayed weapons.

"The driver of the diplomatic vehicle used evasive maneuvers and when it returned on the highway, the passengers in the attacking vehicle opened fire on the diplomatic vehicle," the statement added.

"Moments later three other vehicles joined the chase and shot at the US embassy vehicle."

The statement did not specify who the four attacking vehicles belonged to, or whether it was police bullets that wounded the three victims.

It said, however, that the US diplomatic car "was hit by multiple bullets from personnel of the federal police on the Tres Marias-Huitzilac highway."

Photos at the scene showed an SUV with diplomatic plates riddled with bullet holes and its tires blown out.

The shooting took place in the state of Morelos, which has suffered a surge in murders in recent weeks amid a turf war between drug cartels. The bodies of four women were found on another highway near Cuernavaca last week.

Mexico is in the throes of a violent drug war that has left more than 50,000 people dead since President Felipe Calderon deployed soldiers to combat cartels in 2006.

The United States cooperates closely with Mexico under the $1.6 billion Merida Initiative, which provides training for Mexican law enforcement officials as well as equipment to combat drug trafficking.