Shootouts that began Sept. 13 in Matamoros, the border city in the conflicted Mexican state of Tamualipas [2], have left at least 25 dead. A Mexican law enforcement official who asked that his name not be used for security reasons said the violence has pitted the federal military against gunmen from both the Gulf Cartel [2] and Los Zetas [3]. A Sept. 13 grenade attack on the offices of the Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR) damaged three cars outside the building. The building is located just a few blocks from the B&M International Bridge that links Matamoros with Brownsville, Tex. The bridge was temporarily closed after the attack, and authorities in Brownsville are on alert. (Brownsville Herald [4], Brownsville Herald [5], Sept. 14; ValleyCentral.com [6], Sept. 13)
Our sources in Matamoros inform us that local media outlets are too intimidated to even report on the violence; nearly all accounts have appeared in English-language sources in Brownsville.
See our last posts on Mexico's narco wars [7].
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