Thread: 23 die in Mexico border attacks,US upgrades travel alert

23 die in Mexico border attacks as US upgrades travel alert

MEXICO CITY (AFP) — Twenty three died in attacks in northern Mexico in the past two days, officials said, as the United States warned its citizens to increase vigilance when traveling south of the border.

Twelve died in northwestern Baja California State, mostly in the volatile border city of Tijuana, and 11 were killed in Chihuahua, further east.

Border areas where rival drug cartels are battling over key routes into the United States are among the worst hit in escalating violence across Mexico this year in which almost 3,500 have died, including civilians.

"Increased levels of violence make it imperative that travelers understand the risks of travel to Mexico," said a new six-monthly State Department travel alert.

The twelve deaths in Baja California included two adults and two minors in an AK-47 attack in Tijuana Tuesday, said Jose Manuel Yepiz, spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

An armed commando also killed a former police officer in the border town of Mexicali.

Eleven died in attacks in Chihuahua State in the past 24 hours, including a former police commander, said Alejandro Pariente, spokesman for the state attorney general's office, on Tuesday.

Chihuahua is a flashpoint in an increasingly bloody turf war between drug cartels, with more than 1,000 killed in the state's border city of Ciudad Juarez alone so far this year.

"The situation in Ciudad Juarez is of special concern," the State Department said of the city across the border from the US city of El Paso.

"A recent series of muggings near the US Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez has targeted applicants for US visas," it added, as an increasing number of civilians flee the city's violence.

It underlined the use of automatic weapons and grenades by drug cartels, as well as public shootings which have taken place during daylight hours in border cities including Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana and Nogales.

Criminals have followed and harassed US citizens traveling in border areas, sometimes wearing full or partial police or military uniforms, it said.

It also called for vigilance during public rallies, after an Independence Day grenade attack last month in central Mexico in which eight died.

A government crackdown on drug-related violence, initiated by President Felipe Calderon almost two years ago and including the deployment of 36,000 troops, has showed no sign of stopping the killings.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jiA ... o4m1YOCqlw

A travel alert, if I am correct, is the lowest level of a heads up notice from state. I still have my passport when I was three-years old that banned my travel to Cuba and Korea. Not that I was planning to go anywhere like that at age three.

Travel Alert
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs

This information is current as of today, Mon Oct 13 10:42:37 2008.

Mexico

April 14, 2008


This Travel Alert updates information for U.S. citizens on security situations in Mexico that may affect their activities while in that country. This supersedes the Travel Alert for Mexico dated October 24, 2007, and expires on October 15, 2008.

Violence Along The U.S.-Mexico Border
-------------------------------------

Violent criminal activity fueled by a war between criminal organizations struggling for control of the lucrative narcotics trade continues along the U.S.-Mexico border. Attacks are aimed primarily at members of drug trafficking organizations, Mexican police forces, criminal justice officials, and journalists. However, foreign visitors and residents, including Americans, have been among the victims of homicides and kidnappings in the border region. In its effort to combat violence, the government of Mexico has deployed military troops in various parts of the country. U.S. citizens are urged to cooperate with official checkpoints when traveling on Mexican highways.

Recent Mexican army and police force conflicts with heavily-armed narcotics cartels have escalated to levels equivalent to military small-unit combat and have included use of machine guns and fragmentation grenades. Confrontations have taken place in numerous towns and cities in northern Mexico, including Tijuana in the Mexican state of Baja California, and Chihuahua City and Ciudad Juarez in the state of Chihuahua. The situation in northern Mexico remains very fluid; the location and timing of future armed engagements there cannot be predicted.

Armed robberies and carjackings, apparently unconnected to the narcotics-related violence, have increased in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez. Dozens of U.S. citizens were kidnapped and/or murdered in Tijuana in 2007. Public shootouts have occurred during daylight hours near shopping areas.

Criminals are armed with a wide array of sophisticated weapons. In some cases, assailants have worn full or partial police or military uniforms and have used vehicles that resemble police vehicles.

U.S. citizens are urged to be especially alert to safety and security concerns when visiting the border region. While Mexican citizens overwhelmingly are the victims of these crimes, this uncertain security situation poses risks for U.S. citizens as well. Thousands of U.S. citizens cross the border safely each day, exercising common-sense precautions such as visiting only legitimate business and tourist areas of border towns during daylight hours. It is strongly recommended that travelers avoid areas where prostitution and drug dealing occur.
Criminals have followed and harassed U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles, particularly in border areas including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, and Tijuana. There is no evidence, however, that U.S. citizens are targeted because of their nationality.

U.S. citizen victims of crime in Mexico are urged to contact the consular section of the nearest U.S. consulate or Embassy for advice and assistance.

Crime and Violence in Mexico
----------------------------

U.S. citizens residing and traveling in Mexico should exercise caution when in unfamiliar areas and be aware of their surroundings at all times. Violence by criminal elements affects many parts of the country, urban and rural, including border areas. Though there is no evidence that U.S. citizens are specifically targeted, Mexican and foreign bystanders have been injured or killed in some violent attacks, demonstrating the heightened risk in public places. In recent years, dozens of U.S. citizens have been kidnapped in Mexico and many cases remain unresolved. Moreover, new cases of disappearances and kidnap-for-ransom continue to be reported. No one can be considered immune from kidnapping on the basis of occupation, nationality, or other factors. U.S. citizens who believe they are being followed should notify Mexican officials as soon as possible. U.S. citizens should make every attempt to travel on main roads during daylight hours, particularly the toll (“cuotaâ€

[quote]Travel Alert
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs

This information is current as of today, Mon Oct 13 10:42:37 2008.

Mexico

April 14, 2008


This Travel Alert updates information for U.S. citizens on security situations in Mexico that may affect their activities while in that country. This supersedes the Travel Alert for Mexico dated October 24, 2007, and expires on October 15, 2008.

Violence Along The U.S.-Mexico Border
-------------------------------------

Violent criminal activity fueled by a war between criminal organizations struggling for control of the lucrative narcotics trade continues along the U.S.-Mexico border. Attacks are aimed primarily at members of drug trafficking organizations, Mexican police forces, criminal justice officials, and journalists. However, foreign visitors and residents, including Americans, have been among the victims of homicides and kidnappings in the border region. In its effort to combat violence, the government of Mexico has deployed military troops in various parts of the country. U.S. citizens are urged to cooperate with official checkpoints when traveling on Mexican highways.

Recent Mexican army and police force conflicts with heavily-armed narcotics cartels have escalated to levels equivalent to military small-unit combat and have included use of machine guns and fragmentation grenades. Confrontations have taken place in numerous towns and cities in northern Mexico, including Tijuana in the Mexican state of Baja California, and Chihuahua City and Ciudad Juarez in the state of Chihuahua. The situation in northern Mexico remains very fluid; the location and timing of future armed engagements there cannot be predicted.

Armed robberies and carjackings, apparently unconnected to the narcotics-related violence, have increased in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez. Dozens of U.S. citizens were kidnapped and/or murdered in Tijuana in 2007. Public shootouts have occurred during daylight hours near shopping areas.

Criminals are armed with a wide array of sophisticated weapons. In some cases, assailants have worn full or partial police or military uniforms and have used vehicles that resemble police vehicles.

U.S. citizens are urged to be especially alert to safety and security concerns when visiting the border region. While Mexican citizens overwhelmingly are the victims of these crimes, this uncertain security situation poses risks for U.S. citizens as well. Thousands of U.S. citizens cross the border safely each day, exercising common-sense precautions such as visiting only legitimate business and tourist areas of border towns during daylight hours. It is strongly recommended that travelers avoid areas where prostitution and drug dealing occur.
Criminals have followed and harassed U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles, particularly in border areas including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, and Tijuana. There is no evidence, however, that U.S. citizens are targeted because of their nationality.

U.S. citizen victims of crime in Mexico are urged to contact the consular section of the nearest U.S. consulate or Embassy for advice and assistance.

Crime and Violence in Mexico
----------------------------

U.S. citizens residing and traveling in Mexico should exercise caution when in unfamiliar areas and be aware of their surroundings at all times. Violence by criminal elements affects many parts of the country, urban and rural, including border areas. Though there is no evidence that U.S. citizens are specifically targeted, Mexican and foreign bystanders have been injured or killed in some violent attacks, demonstrating the heightened risk in public places. In recent years, dozens of U.S. citizens have been kidnapped in Mexico and many cases remain unresolved. Moreover, new cases of disappearances and kidnap-for-ransom continue to be reported. No one can be considered immune from kidnapping on the basis of occupation, nationality, or other factors. U.S. citizens who believe they are being followed should notify Mexican officials as soon as possible. U.S. citizens should make every attempt to travel on main roads during daylight hours, particularly the toll (“cuotaâ€

Most of the media is still ignoring the violence on the border and the U.S. Travel Alert too.

Two more men found shot to death in Tijuana

By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

3:14 p.m. October 15, 2008

TIJUANA – Two men were found shot to death on a road in eastern Tijuana early Wednesday, the latest in a series of victims as the region struggles with a rise in violence linked to organized crime.

The victims, who remained unidentified, were between 25 and 35, according to the Baja California Attorney General's Office. The crime was reported about 4:30 a.m. in an area known as Ejido Francisco Villa.

Casings found at the scene indicated that the killers fired the sorts of assault weapons commonly used by drug-trafficking gangs, including an AK-47 rifle. Law enforcement officials say a power struggle between cells of the Arellano Felix cartel has led to the region's spike in violence in recent weeks

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... jdead.html

Mexican city's carnage scaring Americans away

More than 1,100 killed this year in Ciudad Juarez

By Alicia A. Caldwell
ASSOCIATED PRESS

October 16, 2008

EL PASO, Texas – Mexican officials are trying to persuade Americans to visit Ciudad Juarez, touting the city in a new billboard campaign as a “land of encounters.â€

Soldier killed in drug war honored

Corporal's unit got in urban gunbattle

By Sandra Dibble
STAFF WRITER

October 17, 2008

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib ... jdead.html

Oct 17, 3:59 PM EDT

Mexican cops: 6 lined up, gunned down near border

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) -- Police say six people were lined up and gunned down outside a business in this violent border city.

City police spokesman Alejandro Pariente says a written statement "for all rats" was found among the bodies and declared that the killings "will continue."

Pariente says investigators found more than 100 bullet shells at the scene. He says no arrests have been made and officials were investigating whether the Thursday-night attack was linked to drugs.

Drug violence has been spiraling across Mexico and especially in Ciudad Juarez, where more than 1,000 people have been killed this year. Ciudad Juarez is located across the border from El Paso, Texas.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/ ... TE=DEFAULT

Mexican border city desperate to recruit police

By Marina Montemayor
ASSOCIATED PRESS

12:01 p.m. October 18, 2008

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – The border city of Ciudad Juarez is sending police recruiters across the country and will keep 175 officers who have used drugs in the past as it tries to replace nearly half a police force gutted by firings and retirements.

The tough industrial city of 1.2 million, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, has seen several policemen killed and dozen of people murdered in bloody drug gang turf battles in recent months.

More than 900 policemen have been fired, resigned or retired since the start of year – including 334 who were ousted on Friday after they failed psychological, background and other checks as part of a clean-up campaign meant to root out officers who are corrupt or cooperating with drug traffickers.

The city has lost officers far faster than it can replace them on what was once a 1,700-person force.

City spokesman Jaime Torres said on Friday the force will retain on probation the officers whose past use of drugs was detected during vetting tests. It also plans to send recruiters to the states of Chiapas, Veracruz and Jalisco, looking for former soldiers willing to serve in Ciudad Juarez.

Officials already have recruited about 80 prospective police officers in the southern state of Oaxaca. Those former soldiers are now undergoing training in Ciudad Juarez.

Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said the city will open an office to help the fired officers find other jobs, but added their names will be added to databases to prevent them from signing on as police elsewhere in Mexico.

Some of the officers have pledged to file lawsuits to recover their jobs.

The Mexican army, which has been patrolling some sections of Juarez for months, is expected to help pick up the slack until the force can return to full strength.

On Thursday, gunmen lined up six men outside a Ciudad Juarez banquet hall, forced them to kneel and killed them. No arrests have been made

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... rcops.html