MEXICAN ARMY HOPES TO TIGHTEN GRIP IN TOWN PLAGUED BY DRUG-RELATED VIOLENCE

Mexican army soldiers flying in helicopters and riding over desert
brush on Humvees continue operations near the town of Villa Ahumada a
week after a battle left 14 suspected gunmen dead.

"On air and land, we are searching for any group that is looking to
transport weapons or drugs," Enrique Torres, spokesman for the
military's Joint Operation Chihuahua, said Monday.

Soldiers are watching highways, dirt roads and trails surrounding
Villa Ahumada, which is about 90 miles south of Juarez on the
Panamerican Highway.

Villa Ahumada, best known for its asadero cheese and burritos sold to
travelers, has been without local police since officers and the police
chief were killed last year.

The number of troops in the current operation was not released but
they are backed by nine helicopters and searches are being conducted
in groups of no less than 50 following the Feb. 10 battle that was one
of the largest firefights between the military and suspected gunmen in
the state of Chihuahua, Torres said.

An army sergeant was also slain in the confrontation that began when
the 20th Motorized Cavalry Regiment assisted by four helicopters
intercepted sicarios (hitmen) who had kidnapped nine people in Villa
Ahumada. Six of the kidnap victims were found dead.

The Mexican attorney general's office said the suspected gunmen had
identification cards stating they were from Sinaloa; Nogales, Sonora;
and Madera, Chihuahua.

On Monday, officials released most of the names, and some ages, of
those killed: Luis Alejandro Rualcava Camacho, 29; Carlos Antonio Ruiz
Daniel, 29; Joaquin Cenceno Cenceno; Hermelindo Madrigal Corral, 28;
Fausto Parra Corral, 23; Jose Luis Realivazquez Corral, 17; Homero
Adan Rodriguez Arguello; Jorge Ivan Marrufo Munoz; Manuel Navarrete
Vazquez; Yamil Esteban Cruz Lerma, 30; Miguel Angel Quiroz Portillo;
Jesus Armando Moctezuma Cabral; and Manuel Bernardo Madrigal Molina.

In the Juarez area, the violence continues with an estimated homicide
total now standing at about 275 so far this year, including Cristina
Aranda Villalobos, 35, who was fatally shot Monday afternoon in the
Reforma grocery in the community of Juarez y Reforma. She was a
village council representative.