Mexico's violent Sinaloa state logs 19 homicides in five days

(Reuters) - Mexican authorities logged seven homicides in the western state of Sinaloa on Friday, the latest violence to plague an area where increasingly frequent shootouts are fueling fears of the possible start of an intra-cartel war.

The deaths bring the number of killings within the week to 19, after 12 killings were registered between Monday and Thursday.

The Sinaloa prosecutor's office in a statement late on Friday said the latest victims were found in four separate locations.

Two people were killed in the capital of Culiacan, and five in the municipality of Concordia, both of which the statement described as places "where violent events have occurred between criminal groups."

Sinaloa, on the Pacific Coast, is the home base of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, a drug gang once led by kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is now serving a life sentence in the U.S.

The July arrest of another veteran gang leader, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, has stoked fears of infighting and turf battles.

The prosecutor's office also said on Friday it received eight reports in Culiacan of men who had been kidnapped.

In Culiacan, businesses have closed, public transportation has been cut back and Independence Day festivities have been canceled due to the worsening violence.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; editing by Diane Craft)