Pubdate: Fri, 18 Jan 2008
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2008 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: James C. McKinley, Jr.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/area/Mexico (Mexico)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Felipe+Calderon

MEXICAN FORCES CLASH WITH DRUG CARTEL GUNMEN IN TIJUANA

REYNOSA, Mexico -- Drug cartel gunmen and government forces fought a
three-hour battle Thursday in Tijuana, the latest in a series of
violent clashes in border towns where President Felipe Calderon has
deployed the Mexican Army and federal agents to dismantle drug cartels.

One gunman was killed and four police officers were wounded in the
fight, state authorities said in a bulletin Thursday night. The police
later discovered at least six other bodies in a house where the gunmen
had made a stand against the government, state officials said. Some of
the dead appeared to be kidnapping victims who had been slain, they
said.

During the fighting, the sound of machine guns and grenades terrorized
the city, as residents hid in their houses and soldiers evacuated a
preschool, according to reports from Mexican newspapers, television
networks and radio stations.

As Mr. Calderon has put more pressure on them, the drug cartels have
lashed back at the government. Gunmen assassinated three police
commanders in Tijuana this week and killed four federal agents last
week in the states of Tamaulipas and Michoacan.

The gunfight on Thursday in Tijuana broke out at 11 a.m., as federal
agents tried to enter a house believed to belong to drug dealers in a
neighborhood called La Mesa. The agents drew fire from black-garbed
men in the house, and soldiers and federal police officers closed in,
taking up positions outside.

According to reporters for Radio Red FM, the besieged gunmen fought
with large-caliber machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, even
shooting at a helicopter overhead.

The government forces made three assaults on the house before entering
and arresting five people, state authorities said.

As the battle raged nearby, soldiers evacuated dozens of children from
the Mi Alegria preschool, the Televisa network reported. Residents of
the neighborhood remained trapped in their homes.

The shootout occurred in the same neighborhood where gunmen ambushed
and killed two senior state police officials in their car on Tuesday
just after midnight.

Hours later, gunmen broke into the home of a police commander, killing
him, his wife and his 12-year-old daughter.

Funeral services for the police commander were being held Thursday as
the new battle broke out. Early reports that drug cartel gunmen had
fired on people at the funeral turned out to be false.

The authorities said that in the hours before the gun battle, drug
dealers had been issuing death threats to the city's police chief,
Julian Leyzaola Perez, over police radio frequencies.

Last week, a similar battle between drug dealers and government forces
broke out in Rio Bravo, Mexico, just south of the Texas town of
McAllen. In that fight, officials said, three gunmen were killed and
10 on the government side were wounded 
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