25 or more people have died in a gunfight between Mexican soldiers and suspected drug gang members near the northern Mexican city of Monterrey.

Gang members from the northern border region had been massing in the area and had even set up a makeshift camp when soldiers launched a raid in the early hours of Friday.

An escalation in violence in recent months has seen many soldiers, police and civilians caught in the line of fire as Mexican drug gangs have battled it out on the streets.

Officials have blamed the violence on the Gulf gang and its former allies, the Zetas.

72 migrants were massacred last week, supposedly by the Zeta gang.

Apart from the general gun fighting, the major cartels are being blamed for beheaded bodies hung from bridges and dozens of slain cartel victims buried in deep pits.

Mexican government officials, concerned about the effect on all aspects of Mexican life, have said they will continue the government clampdown on organized drug crime.