Top drug lord killed in gunbattle with soldiers in major blow to Mexico's most powerful cartel

Mexico City: The Mexican army has announced that one of the top three leaders of Mexico's most powerful drug cartel, Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, was killed in a gunbattle with soldiers.

The death of Coronel on Thursday is the biggest strike yet against Sinaloa cartel led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman - Mexico's top drug lord - since President Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive against drug traffickers in late 2006.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration called Coronel's death "a crippling blow" to the Sinaloa cartel.

According to the FBI, which offered a $5 million reward for Coronel, he was believed to be "the forerunner in producing massive amounts of methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories in Mexico, then smuggling it into the US."