MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Fourteen suspected criminals were killed after a confrontation with police and marines in Mexico’s Gulf state of Veracruz, Mexican police said on Monday.

A spokesman for the municipal police in the city of Jesus Carranza, about 255 miles (410 km) south of the state capital, Xalapa, confirmed to Reuters that 14 gunmen were killed by authorities after attacking a patrol.

Reports by local news outlets that an undetermined number of attackers escaped to a nearby mountain could not be confirmed immediately.

Veracruz is home to a variety of turf battles among rival cartels, including the extremely violent Zetas.