Mexico City, May 6 (EFE).- Federal security forces killed five gunmen in separate shootouts and arrested 15 others in Tamaulipas, a state in northeastern Mexico, the Tamaulipas Coordination Group, or GCT, said.
"Members of a criminal group attacked Federal Police officers on patrol" in the city of Reynosa, located across the border from McAllen, Texas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. on Monday, the GCT, a joint federal and state agency, said in a statement.
The attack led to a chase that ended at the entrance to a shopping center parking lot, where four armed civilians riding in an automobile without tags "were killed when they tried to get away by firing at the federales," the GCT said.
Gunmen riding in an SUV opened fire at 11:15 a.m. Monday "on Navy Secretariat troops who were on patrol" in Matamoros, located across the border from Brownsville, Texas, the GCT said.
The gunmen tried to drive away from the marines but lost control and hit a tree, igniting a container of gasoline they were carrying.
Marines killed a gunman who tried to fire at them with a rifle, but the other suspects got away, the GCT said.
Army troops, meanwhile, detained 15 suspected criminals in different operations across the state.
The Gulf and Los Zetas drug cartels have been fighting for control of Tamaulipas and smuggling routes into the United States for years.
The violence has spiked in recent weeks, but federal officials have not taken any additional measures to deal with the situation in the border state.
Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo said recently that there were no plans to name a special commissioner for Tamaulipas as was done in the western state of Michoacan.
