McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — A shootout between members of a Mexican cartel and Mexican soldiers left eight dead overnight Wednesday just south of the border in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, according to several reports.
Seven cartel members were killed and one soldier died overnight Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.
Officials with the government of Tamaulipas confirmed on Twitter that one military serviceman was killed and seven soldiers were injured in the early morning hours of Wednesday. The injured soldiers were air-evacuated to hospitals.
This was the second major shootout between drug cartels and Mexican authorities in two weeks in the dangerous northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
Police say the military was attacked, resulting in one death and seven injuries of servicemen on a remote road about 3 miles south of the border town of Laredo, Texas.
Photos posted by government officials show roads closed, 18-wheeler trucks on the side of roadways waiting for the all-clear and residents hiding and sheltering.
Heavy gunfire between rival cartels in Nuevo Laredo has been heard several times in the past year by residents in Laredo.
In March, rapid-fire shots could be heard one night in Laredo after the arrest of a cartel member. The next morning there was carnage in several Nuevo Laredo streets where fighting had ensued
Late last month, gunfire broke out again in Nuevo Laredo, after the arrest of another reported cartel member. This led to authorities closing schools and the U.S. Consulate issued a shelter-in-place warning to American citizens.
Nuevo Laredo has been controlled by the Northeast cartel, which sprung out of the Zetas cartel. The region has been an area where other cartels are vying to control.
Tamaulipas officials on Twitter reported that federal and state forces were conducting enhanced law enforcement sweeps of the area “in order to provide greater security for both the local population and those in transit.”
