MONTERREY: Eight suspected gang members died in a clash with soldiers near the US border Thursday, an official said, as Mexico began celebrating 200 years of the start of its independence from Spain.

The clash took place on a road in a rural area of northern Nuevo Leon state, said an official from the state prosecutor`s office, without giving further details.

Strict security surrounded Mexico`s massive bicentennial celebrations Wednesday and Thursday, while officials cancelled ceremonies in some areas badly hit by gang violence.

Some 28,000 people have died in a surge of suspected drug violence since the government launched a military crackdown on organized crime in 2006.

A former mayor, from a prominent media family, was meanwhile freed after being held hostage for two weeks, a justice official in the northeastern port of Tampico said Wednesday.

Fernando Azcarraga Lopez had been abducted on September 2.

Police did not intervene to release the cousin of Emilio Azcarraga -- the high-profile owner of Mexico`s Televisa media group -- and the family had not formally complained, he added.

It was unclear if a ransom had been paid.

Tampico lies in Tamaulipas state, which has seen a surge in violence, including shootouts and the massacre of 72 migrants last month, blamed on turf wars between the Gulf drug gang and its former allies the Zetas.

BDST: 0845 HRS, September 16, 2010