A confrontation between the military and armed civilians in the violent state of Tamaulipas, in northeastern Mexico, left 12 dead, the government of said entity reported this Sunday.
The scuffle took place when the soldiers were carrying out security and surveillance tours in the Miguel Alemán municipality, bordering the United States, the Tamaulipas government’s Security Spokesperson reported on its social networks.
“Elements of the Sedena (Secretariat of National Defense, Army) were attacked by armed civilians who were hidden in the undergrowth” leaving as a result “12 aggressors reduced,” added the authority about the incident, which occurred around 2:00 p.m. local.
State government sources confirmed to AFP that the 12 attackers, alleged members of a drug trafficking cartel, died in the confrontation and that the military used drones and a helicopter as support.
The soldiers seized 12 long weapons, cartridges and magazines of various calibers, added the Security Spokesperson.
“Hitmen” surprised during patrol
The local newspaper La Tarde reported that the “hitmen” were detected and caught red-handed by soldiers who were carrying out a patrol “very close to Lienzo Charro, a sector that has become widely used by criminal groups, both those that operate in this area and of the groups that seek to break into the urban area to gain more ground of control.
Tamaulipas is a state hit by violence linked to organized crime. It is the site of constant clashes between cartels that dispute the lucrative drug trafficking routes to the United States.
Last March, four Americans were kidnapped in the city of Matamoros by alleged drug traffickers. Two of them were found dead and the other two returned to their country.
Mexico has recorded more than 420,000 murders and tens of thousands of missing persons since the end of 2006, when then-president Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) launched a controversial military anti-drug offensive.
#armed #men #die #confrontation #military #Mexico #Diario #Página
