At least 43 people have died after a gunfight between civilians and police in an area dominated by Mexico's drug gangs.

The incident happened in Tanhuato, in the state of Michoacan, after a convoy of police and soldiers were ambushed, according to a government official.

Two police officers were initially said to be among the dead, but details are still unclear.

The identity of the gunmen is not yet known.

The area between Michoacan and Jalisco states is a stronghold of the the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

The drugs gang has mounted several attacks on federal and state forces in recent weeks.

In January police were accused of firing on 16 unarmed civilians - again in Michoacan state.

A police and judicial investigation was launched to look into the claims.

That incident happened amid plans to dissolve Michoacan's "rural force," a group of vigilantes made deputies after they rose up against the Knights Templar drug cartel.

President Enrique Pena Nieto, who was elected on the promise to gain control of Mexico's drug cartels, is already under attack over an alleged army massacre of gang suspects in central Mexico last year, and the presumed slaughter of 43 students at the hands of a police-backed cartel in southern Guerrero state.