President Donald Trump called Mexican president Andres Lopez Obrador to express "solidarity" following a violent street battle between police and drug cartel gunman which ended up freeing a captured son of El Chapo.

The unrest spread across the city of Culiacan, with gunmen setting up blockades of burning vehicles.

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said on Saturday his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump called him to express his "solidarity" following an attempt to arrest a drug kingpin's son that prompted a wave of violence in the northwestern city of Culiacan.

"I received a call from President Trump expressing his solidarity following the events in Culiacan. I thank you for respecting our sovereignty and your willingness to maintain a policy of being good neighbors, based on cooperation for the development and welfare of our peoples," Lopez Obrador said on Twitter.

Read more: Photos show the chaos and aftermath of a Mexican battle over drug lord 'El Chapo's' son

Cartel gunmen surrounded about 35 police and national guards on Thursday in the capital of Sinaloa state and made them free Ovidio Guzman, one of jailed drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's dozen or so children, after his brief detention set off widespread gun battles and a jailbreak of at least 20 prisoners that stunned the country.

Cartel gunmen reportedly used machine guns and sniper rifles and set up blockades of burning vehicles.

Recently, tensions between Mexican authorities and cartels have reached new heights. Over 12 police officers were killed in Western Mexico earlier in the week. The next day the army slaughtered 14 suspected criminals.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito in Mexico City; Editing by Matthew Lewis)