Soldiers fought around 20 armed men after being attacked with grenades following a search of a suspected drug safe house in Rio Bravo, across the border from McAllen, Texas, witnesses told Reuters.
Mexican troops and police shot dead three suspected drug hitmen armed with grenades in a fierce gun battle in a town near the U.S. border on Monday.
Three gunmen died in the battle and 10 soldiers and policemen were injured, the security forces said. Ten people were arrested.
"The aggressors threw dozens of grenades and there was a lot of blood on the street. Some civilians were badly hurt and taken to hospital," said local journalist Ely Enriquez.
The powerful Gulf Cartel and its notorious armed wing, the Zetas, are influential in many areas on the border north of the industrial city of Monterrey.
Suspected drug gunmen killed a well-known local politician in Rio Bravo in November, turning the quiet agricultural town into a flashpoint in President Felipe Calderon's military assault on drug gangs.
Mexican troops and police shot dead three suspected drug hitmen armed with grenades in a fierce gun battle in a town near the U.S. border on Monday.
Three gunmen died in the battle and 10 soldiers and policemen were injured, the security forces said. Ten people were arrested.
"The aggressors threw dozens of grenades and there was a lot of blood on the street. Some civilians were badly hurt and taken to hospital," said local journalist Ely Enriquez.
The powerful Gulf Cartel and its notorious armed wing, the Zetas, are influential in many areas on the border north of the industrial city of Monterrey.
Suspected drug gunmen killed a well-known local politician in Rio Bravo in November, turning the quiet agricultural town into a flashpoint in President Felipe Calderon's military assault on drug gangs.
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