Gun Battles Erupt Along U.S.-Mexican Border

Battles in Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico have prompted factories to close down, parents to pull children out of schools, and left a member of the Texas National Guard dead. The two cities across the border from Texas have been increasingly plagued by violence ever since the split between the Gulf and Zetas drug cartels. In a firefight on Wednesday, roads were blockaded and in the city of Matamaros, a grenade was thrown at an army barracks. It was near Matamaros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, that 72 migrants were massacred in August for refusing to work for the Zetas. There were also shootouts in the town of Reynosa, where, along with Nuevo Laredo, local governments used Twitter and Facebook to warn residents to stay inside. Chihuahua state officials tell the El Paso Times that Texas National Guard member Jose Ramirez was found dead along with another man.