Twelve gunmen were killed by Mexican patrol soldiers in a clash near the U.S. border in Tamaulipas, authorities say.
The northeastern state has been rocked by organized crime-related violence.
It is purported that the deceased assailants belonged to a narcotics cartel.
According to a spokesperson for the security office of the municipality of Miguel Aleman on the frontier with the United States, the gunfight transpired while soldiers were conducting patrols.
According to state government sources, the twelve alleged drug cartel assailants were slain in the operation, which also involved the use of helicopters and drones by the military.
Tamaulipas, which is located on the U.S. frontier, is among the states most severely affected by organized crime-related violence.
Constant gunfights occur there among organizations vying for profitable drug trafficking routes.
Four American citizens, two of whom subsequently passed away, were apprehended at gunpoint in March of last year while traveling in a minivan across the border into Tamaulipas state.
Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, both Americans, perished in the attack. Latavia McGee and Eric Williams advanced to safety. Areli Pablo Servando, a 33-year-old Mexican woman, was also fatally wounded, presumably by a stray gunshot.
Mexico has documented over 420,000 homicides and 110,000 disappearances since the controversial military anti-drug offensive began in 2006, the majority of which have been attributed to criminal organizations.
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