At least four killed in gunfight in Mexico's Cancun

Rodolfo del Angel Campos, chief of police for the state of Quintana Roo, said gunfire broke out at the state attorney general's office in Cancun, a city that is one of the most popular seaside destinations for foreign tourists in Mexico.

Police intervened, and the alarm was sounded, activating federal police and the armed forces, del Angel said, adding that other installations were also attacked. Television broadcast outbreaks of afternoon gunfire in Cancun.

One policeman and three suspected gunmen were killed, and a further five suspects arrested, state governor Carlos Joaquin told Mexican television on Tuesday evening.

"The state is under control and in order," Joaquin said, adding that he had arranged with the Interior Ministry to send federal forces to reinforce security. "People from Cancun and our visitors can go about their lives as normal."

Joaquin, who took office in September, described the attacks as a reaction by gangsters to his crackdown on organized crime, which he said had enjoyed impunity for years.

The ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has been reviewing disciplinary action against Joaquin's predecessor, former PRI state governor Roberto Borge, whom the opposition has accused of fraud and corruption. He denies any wrongdoing.

Lying on the Caribbean coast of eastern Mexico, Quintana Roo has suffered sporadic violence in the past few years as drug cartels battle for control of the lucrative local market.

Changes in power have been known to inflame turf wars between gangs as they fight for supremacy.