Hospitals, discos, schools on front line as Tijuana drug gangs battle in the streets

By Elliot Spagat
ASSOCIATED PRESS

12:23 p.m. April 29, 2008

TIJUANA, Mexico – Soldiers held Tijuana's main hospital in a virtual lockdown Tuesday as doctors treated eight drug traffickers wounded in running shootouts in this border city.

Even in Mexico's most violent city, jaded residents feel caught in the crossfire between drug smugglers and federal troops sent in to stop them. Hospitals, schools, and even taco-and-beer tourism are suddenly on the front lines of a raging turf war.

The latest bout of violence exploded on Saturday, with rival gang members killing each other all over Tijuana in simultaneous, pre-dawn attacks that left at least 13 dead.
Three days later, the Hospital General de Tijuana is surrounded by camouflaged federal troops with machine guns guarding locked gates. Outpatient services were halted, visits from family and friends were severely restricted and anyone without an emergency was told to go elsewhere.

“There isn't any other way,â€