A major firefight between two rival Mexican drug cartels riddled the streets of a small village with bullets near the U.S. border, killing at least eight and leaving a string of burned-down armored vehicles at the scene.
Officials said the gun battle likely occurred on Sunday and continued into Monday in the small settlement of Santa Rosalia in the border town of Camargo. Residents of the northern border state of Tamaulipas reportedly heard gunshots throughout the night. Witnesses declined to be identified for fear of reprisals.
Witnesses said police and soldiers ventured into the area after receiving reports of gunfire Sunday. However, when they left cartel gunmen reportedly re-emerged during the night to continue their battle.
Authorities said several burned bodies were left lying inside and near the burned trucks. At least three of the trucks were modified with steel plates that served as improvised bulletproof armor. Cartels often use these heavily modified armored vehicles in armed confrontations.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters that "many people" were killed in the confrontation. He did not specify which gangs were involved in the latest clash but the area has long been disputed between the northeastern cartels, remnants of the Zetas gang, and the Gulf Cartel.
Gang members from different cartels have repeatedly clashed with each other and government forces in the past. Last week, a suspected member of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, one of the nation's most powerful gangs, attacked government security officers using an explosive-laden drone. Two officers were wounded in the attack.
According to authorities, more than 300,000 have been murdered across the nation since the government started its war on drugs in 2006. Authorities said most of the killings are linked to gang violence.
Bloodshed in Mexico has increased ahead of the country's midterm elections in June. This includes a wave of political murders by criminal gangs vying for influence.
Last Friday, Pope Francis' ambassador visited Mexico to bring a message of hope for residents terrorized by the bloody turf war between rival drug cartels. Apostolic Nuncio Franco Coppola visited the streets of Aguililla, a flashpoint in the violence-plagued western state of Michoacan.
