Reynosa battle retaliation for Rio Bravo attack, authorities say

REYNOSA - A Tuesday night shootout that left two federal officers dead was prompted by a similar attack in Rio Bravo earlier this week, Mexican authorities said Wednesday.

The shootings, which broke out just before 6:30 p.m. in the center of the city’s downtown, targeted eight roving patrols made up of federal police and military officers, said Patricia Patino Arias, the country’s undersecretary for public safety, in a written statement.

The dead officers - identified as Miguel Angel Aguilar Lopez and Arturo Flores Fajardo - died from bullet wounds sustained while patrolling Hidalgo Boulevard near Pradexis Balboa, better known as Linea del Gas.

Witnesses reported seeing several explosions near the scene Tuesday night, including one grenade that detonated next to a truck in a church parking lot. Blood stains, charred body armor and helmets littered the streets surrounding the crime scene.

Three other officers in Mexico’s Agencia Federal de Investigacion were injured in the attack.

Reports of gunfire on Reynosa’s west side and across the border from Anzalduas County Park

could not be confirmed with police and soldiers

This week’s violence is believed to be a response to an increased military presence along Tamaulipas’ northern border in recent months.

Members of the Gulf Cartel and their paramilitary enforcement group, Los Zetas, who have long controlled drug smuggling routes through the area, are lashing out in response to the government’s crackdown, Fajardo said.

Since taking office in 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderon has declared war on the drug trafficking organizations such as the Gulf Cartel.

He increased military presence in Rio Bravo after the Nov. 30 assassination of the city’s former mayor, Juan Antonio Guajardo Anzaldua. The resulting shootout at a downtown restaurant killed five others.

On Monday, tension between the troops and suspected cartel gunmen boiled over in a firefight that left three federal officers dead and five soldiers and five federal officers injured.

Ten men - including three U.S. citizens - were arrested for their purported involvement in that attack.

Mexican media reported Wednesday that the Reynosa street battle involved several players at the scene of the Rio Bravo incident, including both slain officers and a suspect who fled to McAllen’s southern neighbor shortly after violence subsided.

Officers are believed to have attempted to arrest the suspect at the Hotel Virrey shortly before Tuesday night’s violence broke out.