MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Hundreds of people have fled a Mexican town on the U.S. border in the past week after gunmen burned vehicles and businesses, pushing the state’s governor to demand more troops and police for the increasingly lawless area.
Some 300 residents of Ciudad Mier sought refuge in nearby Ciudad Miguel Aleman, both in Tamaulipas state on the Texas border, after gunmen told people to clear out.
The intimidation escalated after marines killed a reputed top drug lord last Friday in an hours-long gunbattle in nearby Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, residents said.
“We want to return to our homes,” said Sara Vega, a displaced Ciudad Mier resident camped out at a shelter in Ciudad Miguel Aleman, according to television images obtained by Reuters. “I hope everything gets better. There needs to be reinforcements and more surveillance,” she said. TV footage on Thursday from the town of about 6,000 people showed burned-out trucks blocking roads and shops that had been vandalized and abandoned.
