Mexico City - An armed commando killed the mayor of the town of Villa Madero, in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, police said Monday.

The vehicle of Mayor Marcelo Ibarra, of the opposition Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), was stopped late Sunday by several people who shot at the man.

Ibarra tried to escape the shots by hiding under the SUV, but he was injured and died on the way to hospital. His wife, who was with him when the attack happened, was unhurt.

The government of Mexican President Felipe Calderon has deployed thousands of soldiers and federal police agents to combat organized crime in Michoacan, one of the states in which drug gangs are most active.

Law enforcement authorities said last week that since the beginning of the year, nearly 1,400 people have been killed in Mexico's battle against drug cartels.

Just last week, eight police officers and five civilians were killed in the north-western Mexican state of Sinaloa in a drug- related clash. (dpa)