'You can't fight fire with fire': Mexican president DEFENDS the army's decision to release El Chapo's son after his arrest to 'protect civilians' following bloody night of warfare that has left at least eight dead in Sinaloa cartel stronghold of Culiacán

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The Mexican president spoke out on Friday morning after a bloody night of warfare between cartel members and the army which has left at least eight dead that was triggered after the brief arrest of El Chapo's son.  

The violence began when cartel leaders including Ovidio Guzmán López, one of the drug lord's sons, who were hiding in a house in Culiacán, opened fire on a group of soldiers who had been patrolling the area. 

The army returned fire, stormed the house and took four people into custody - including Guzmán López. 

But as word spread that they had come under attack, scores of other gang members descended on the house to try to save them. 

They overpowered the 35 soldiers, who eventually retreated without Guzmán López. It sparked a night of fighting in the area. 

Videos emerged on social media of purported gang members taking to the streets with machine guns and grenade launchers. Children crouched next to cars and asked their parents why people were shooting. 

The war-like battle left 16 people injured. At least 51 inmates escaped from Aguaruto Penitentiary in Culiacán. Two were captured.

Mexico's defense minister Luis Sandoval confirmed that soldiers arrested Ovidio Guzmán López - one of several sons who have taken control of the Sinaloa cartel since their father was extradited to the U.S. - but released him after being overpowered by cartel gunmen Thursday, in what he admitted was a 'badly planned' operation.

'It was a badly planned strategy,' Sandoval told a news conference in Culiacán on Friday, where he and other members of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's security cabinet held an emergency meeting.

'The task force acted too hastily. (The operation) wasn't improvised, there was planning, but... it takes time to obtain an arrest warrant. When the operation was already under way, they decided to improvise and attempt to' get a warrant and arrest Guzmán López, he said.

He added that Guzmán López was never 'formally detained'.

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President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (left) said on Friday the decision to release Ovidio Guzmán López (right) was made to protect civilian lives and prevent bloodshed

A purported cartel fighter carrying a grenade launcher to take with him to fight the army in Culiacán on Thursday after violence erupted over the arrest of El Chapo's son

Videos emerged on social media of purported gang members taking to the streets with machine guns and grenade launchers

Vehicles are seen ablaze during a clash between armed gunmen and federal police and military soldiers, in the streets of the of Culiacán, Sinaloa

Heavily armed gunmen in four-by-four trucks fought an intense battle against Mexican security forces - a truck burns above

A common tactic for the cartel is to set cars on fire at the end of roads to block the military from closing in on them 

The official death toll is two but photographs taken on the ground on Thursday indicate that it is much higher. Bodies were strewn across the street

Blood on the streets: Ammunition shells lay on a pool of blood in a street of Culiacán after the intense gun battle

Videos (as seen above) emerged on social media of purported gang members taking to the streets with machine guns and grenade launchers

Many asked who was really in charge in Mexico, with the military easily overpowered by the criminal organization.  

At a separate press conference on Friday, López Obrador did not acknowledge defeat.   

López Obrador defended the decision to free Guzmán López saying: 'I support the decisions that were made. The situation turned very difficult and many citizens' lives were at risk, many human beings.

'Catching a criminal can't be worth more than people's lives,' added the leftist leader.

'This decision was made to protect the people. You can't fight fire with fire.

'We do not want dead people. We do not want war. That is hard for many to understand.

'We have to confront two mafias, white collar crime … we're already battling it, and the delinquent gangs called organized [crime].

'The decision was made by the security cabinet. I supported that decision because I considered that the protection of the people was more important. 

'It was more important that there weren't any deaths. What is more important is that there is peace.' 

A young girl crouches next to her family car asking her father why people were shooting on Thursday

A cartel sniper lies on the ground in the street in Culiacán to take on the military 

Military and civilians are shown at a check point. Roads shut down in the city on Thursday to try to limit the violence

Cartel fighters walk through the street with machine guns on Thursday at the height of the fighting

A body is seen laying on the street after the deadly gun battle. Following the apprehension of Ovidio Guzmán López on Thursday, Culiacán exploded in violence with armed civilians in trucks roaring through the city's center shooting what appeared to be .50-caliber sniper rifles and machine guns

View of the bullet ridden window of a vehicle in a street of Culiacán, Mexico, after the fierce street battle

A burning bus, set alight by cartel gunmen to block a road, is pictured during clashes with federal forces

Plumes of smoke from the many cars that were set on fire by the cartel to try to stunt the military's movements 

He later added, when asked if his critics would see it as a defeat: 'We have no doubt that it was the best decision.

'Power is not arrogance, power is not violence, power is humility, power only makes sense and becomes as virtue when it has the power of others.' 

The shootout between the cartel and the army came in two blasts. One started at 3.30pm and went on for around 20 minutes before a second one erupted.

The second gun battle went on late into Thursday evening and lasted for four hours.

Riodoce reported that gunmen had blocked entrances to the city with burning vehicles, a common tactic to make it difficult for security forces to maneuver.

State officials asked residents to avoid going out in parts of city. A soldier patrols outside the government palace in Culiacán on Friday

Soldiers patrol the surroundings of the government palace in Culiacán, Mexico, on Friday after the deadly night

Despite the reaction to his arrest, Ovidio Guzmán López is not one of El Chapo's best-known sons. Soldiers patrol the surroundings of the government palace in Culiacán on Friday

Eye in the sky: A navy helicopter overflies the government palace in Culiacán, Mexico, on Friday

Dozens of bullet casings remained littered on a sidewalk in northwestern Mexico on Friday, a day after heavily armed gunmen attacked the military and forced the released of El Chapo's son 

A burnt vehicle sits across the street from a soccer stadium in Culiacán, Mexico, on Friday, a day after armed gunmen waged an all-out assault against the Mexican military, who were seeking the arrest of El Chapo's son, Ovidio Guzmán López

Guzmán López, along with his brothers, is believed to be influential in the cartel since their father was jailed for life in the United States.

Despite the reaction to his arrest, Guzmán López is not one of El Chapo's best-known sons.

Iván Archivaldo Guzmán and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán are known as 'los Chapitos', or 'the little Chapos', and are believed to currently run their father's Sinaloa Cartel together with Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, the organization's co-founder.

Following the apprehension of Guzmán López on Thursday, Culiacán exploded in violence with armed civilians in trucks roaring through the city's center shooting what appeared to be .50-caliber sniper rifles and machine guns.

Gunmen later blocked streets with burning vehicles, a common tactic to make it difficult for security forces to maneuver.

State officials asked residents to avoid going out in parts of city.

Sinaloa's soccer club Dorados cancelled its game on Thursday due to security concerns.

Ovidio Guzmán López  (left), along with his brothers, is believed to be influential in the cartel since their father, Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, (right) was jailed in the United States

Northwestern Mexico was turned into a war zone Thursday afternoon after at least eight people dead as a result of a gun battle between armed men loyal to El Chapo's son, Ovidio Guzmán López, and Mexican law enforcement

Members of the Sinaloa state police stand near the remnants of a vehicle that was torched a day earlier during a war-like battle between heavily-armed gunmen and the military

Governor Quirino Ordaz confirmed that school classes had been suspended but that businesses would open on Friday.

Mr. Gonzalez, however, doubted this.

'There is no public transportation, no taxis, people outside the city remain blocked outside and tomorrow will be the same,' he said, adding that Culiacán had not seen such a scene for almost a decade, when the Sinaloa Cartel was experiencing an internal war.

Sinaloa is home to the cartel by the same name, co-founded by 'El Chapo' Guzmán. 

Guzmán, a father-of-nine, was sentenced to life in prison in the United States in July and is currently being held at ADX Florence, a super-maximum security facility in Florence, Colorado. 

After Guzmán's third arrest in 2016, an internal battle for succession began playing out. The battle was resolved with the arrest of Dámaso López Núñez and his son and El Chapo's godson, Dámaso López Serrano, who led a rival faction, Los Antrax.