Shootouts that began Sept. 13 in Matamoros, the border city in the conflicted Mexican state of Tamualipas, 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 and Los Zetas. 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, Brownsville Herald, Sept. 14; ValleyCentral.com, 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.
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Matamoros mayhem: daily dose
New violence was reported from Matamoros Sept. 17, with a Gulf Cartel armed force supposedly under the command of Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén AKA “Tony Tormenta” “leveling” a house controlled by Los Zetas. A shoot-out near the scene ensued when a Gulf Cartel “convoy” was intercepted by a Mexican Marine convoy. Witnesses report “dozens” of corpses from both sides were left after the battle. (Nuevo Heraldo, Brownsville, Sept. 17)