Thread: Gunbattles in Two Mexico-Texas Border Towns

Gunbattle in Nuevo Laredo; bridges stay open

By
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
Published: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 5:57 PM CDT

NUEVO LAREDO - A fierce gunbattle between Mexican soldiers and armed gunmen believed to be drug traffickers has left numerous bodies in the street Wednesday afternoon in a southeast neighborhood, according to residents and business owners in the area.

"There was tremendous gunfire," said an attorney, who asked not to be identified. There were reports of bazooka fire and machine gun strafing.

Meanwhile, the international bridges remained open.
"We are aware that something is going on, but the bridges remain operational as usual," said Officer Mucia Dovalina, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, adding that officials are receiving updates.

Dovalina said Mexican authorities asked U.S. officials to direct any media inquires to the Mexican government.

Ambulance sirens were heard in the area, which is near Municipal Libre and Eva Samano streets but it was unclear whether anyone had been transported to local hospitals.

An early report that the American Consulate had come under attack was denied by officials and the office remained open at about 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Armored vehicles surrounded the Army headquarters located in the western side of the city as a precaution, said an officer who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to speak on behalf of the Mexican Army.

http://www.lmtonline.com/articles/2009/ ... 492035.txt

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" Two more fierce battles in the month of October here you go this is across from Mcallen, Texas.

Group of 60 opens fire, hurls grenades at Mexican army in Reynosa
October 21, 2009 8:21 PM
Ana Ley, The Monitor

REYNOSA — A clash between the Mexican army and about 60 assailants turned some this city’s streets into a battle zone for about an hour early Tuesday morning.

The group fired shots at soldiers patrolling the Reynosa-Matamoros highway near Motel DalÃ* about 1:20 a.m., the Mexican Defense Ministry said in a news release issued Wednesday evening. The attackers rode inside about 20 newer-model trucks as they fired guns and hurled grenades at the military convoy.

No injuries were reported by neighbors and passersby, though one soldier suffered a gunshot wound to his leg. It remains unknown whether any of the criminals were injured during the conflict.

Two trucks were damaged after apparently barreling into obstacles, and five vehicles within the convoy were riddled with gunshot holes. No arrests were made in connection with the attack, which left about 2,000 cartridge casings and 40 spent grenades littering the area.

The criminals left behind a 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck bearing the Nuevo Leon license plate number RB-74168 on the front bumper and PY-46-467 on the rear bumper.

Along with the truck, authorities also seized an AR-15 rifle, 240 rounds of ammunition and 26 ammunition clips.

Minutes before the street battle, a state police convoy had circulated in the same area and also confronted a group of armed aggressors, according to the Defense Ministry statement.

Mexican media said the shootout left six colonias without electricity after several power cables were destroyed amid the chaos. Newspaper El Mañana reported Wednesday — before the Defense Ministry issued its statement — that several people in addition to the injured soldier suffered gunshot wounds and that seven people were arrested. The newspaper also said at least 5,000 cartridge casings were found at the crime scene.

Prior to this week’s incident, the lastest Reynosa street battle to make headlines was on Oct. 6, when authorities arrested seven men near the intersection of Acapulco and Paraguay boulevards in the colonia Ladrillera Mexicana.

There, army personnel approached a group of armed men traveling in a white SUV who attempted to flee once they spotted the convoy. As the driver sped away, the SUV barreled into another vehicle, and the SUV’s occupants attempted to take the vehicle’s passengers by force. Several unknown people began to fire shots at the SUV’s occupants, apparently attempting to free the besieged group.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón deployed thousands of troops to Tamaulipas' northern border in early January 2008 after two shootouts between cartel members and federal and local authorities in Reynosa and Rio Bravo. Two police officers and three suspected cartel members were killed in those battles.

Since Calderón took office in December 2006, his offensive against the cartels that smuggle drugs into the United States has been met with unprecedented brutality, leaving more than 13,500 people dead, according to The Associated Press.

Much of the headline-grabbing border violence has been in cities like Juárez, across the border from El Paso, and Tijuana, across the border from the San Diego metro area. In early September, however, the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College closed for a weekend after bullets from a shootout in Mexico struck a building and a car on the campus. "

http://www.themonitor.com/articles/mexi ... ynosa.html

Local news story and video at:

http://www.pro8news.com/news/local/65297457.html

http://www.pro8news.com/news/local/65382217.html