Explosives car in Mexican drug war the beginning of a trend
Security experts fear that last Thursday car bombing in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, is the beginning of deadly trend which will see a weapon used regularly —and effectively — by insurgents and militants in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere soon making its presence felt on the streets of Mexico
The car bomb has come to Mexico, as it did in this Beirut explosion in 2007 // Source: abc.net.au
The first use of an IED by a Mexican drug cartel (“ FBI, ATF aid in inquiry of Mexico’s first IED attack,” 19 July 2010 HSNW) has led American security officials to say that we may be seeing the beginning of a trend, and a weapon used regularly – and effectively – by insurgents and militants in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere will soon make its presence felt on the streets of Mexico.
Dan Kumar, chief of international affairs for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told USA Today’s Kevin Johnson that the cartels “absolutely have the capacity and ability” to continue such attacks and there is reason to “expect more of this type of violence.”
“This latest incident has raised a lot of concern in the U.S. and Mexico,” Kumar said, adding that the cartels have turned even more violent in a vicious war to control the drug routes to the United States.
Kumar noted that last Thursday’s bombing in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, marked the first time a vehicle bomb has emerged in the deadly conflict, Kumar said.
El Paso Police Department spokesman Darrel Petry toldJohnson that there is no evidence the violence will spill into the United States, but local authorities are prepared. “Are our officers advised to use extra caution? Yes,” he said.
Kumar said the cartels have steadily increased their use of explosives, a mix of military ordnance and homemade grenades, in the past two years.
In a bulletin issued to state and local law enforcement officials in the United States, DHS analysts said the attack — “within walking distance” of the U.S. border — highlighted “the potential for American casualties if similar attacks are conducted in the future.”
“There is no indication either cartel will target U.S. law enforcement personnel,” the July 17 bulletin states. “There is potential, however, for collateral injury to U.S. persons in Mexico and along the border regions as violence escalates,” the bulletin says.
