BALI, January 7 (RIA Novosti) – Philippine security forces gunned down at least 13 suspected members of a criminal gang at a highway checkpoint, officials said on Monday.

A police officer was wounded in the shootout that raged late Sunday after gunmen in two vehicles tried to drive through a police checkpoint near the northern coastal town of Atimonan. Officials said that as soon as troops and police flagged down the first vehicle, the gunmen aboard started shooting at them.The third vehicle turned back and managed to escape, the report said.

Calabarzon regional police chief James Melad said the investigators were verifying reports saying that some of those killed were members of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, GMA News site reported.

Police official Valeriano de Leon said that two assault rifles and 12 pistols used by the gunmen have been recovered, GMA News reported. He also said that the gunmen were likely members of a gun-for-hire group operating in the province.