Mexican Army kills 8 suspected hitmen in northern Mexico

[News_Editor]

Mexican Army kills 8 suspected hitmen in northern Mexico

2011-02-18 23:41:17 GMT+7 (ICT)

MONTERREY, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- The Mexican Army on Friday killed eight suspected hitmen after a car chase in northern Mexico, local media reported.

At about 1:00 a.m. local time, soldiers safeguarding the streets of Guadalupe municipality in Nuevo Leon State noticed a suspicious convoy of vans. The soldiers attempted to stop the vehicles which initiated a high speed chase.

The individuals on the vans were armed and fired at the soldiers during the pursuit. The clashes lasted for thirty minutes. Five of the suspected hitmen were killed at a terrain in the Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Trasportes neighborhood.

The other three were killed on the Santiago highway as their vehicle was overturned by the army. Some of the criminals suspected of working for drug cartels managed to escape.

During the clashes, the suspected criminals threw hand grenades at the soldiers. Some of the vehicles were abandoned as the hitmen fled by foot. The conflict expanded to the limits of Juarez municipality.

After the gun battle, soldiers seized high-caliber guns, AK-47 assault weapons and a grenade launcher as well as some vehicles.

Violence in northern Mexico escalated this week as 18 people were killed in the neighboring state of Tamaulipas, including 11 civilians, as drug-related criminal organizations attacked government buildings and fought between each other.

Durign the weekend, seven bodies were found in a road in the border city of Reynosa. In Torreon city in Coahuila state, two individuals were killed just hours after being rescued from kidnapping and in Ciudad Juarez 14 people were killed.

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