The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for some Mexican areas near the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Do not travel due to crime and kidnapping,” the level 4 bulletin says.
Areas affected by the travel warning include Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, San Fernando, and Tamaulipas, Mexico.
“The U.S. Consulate is aware of increasingly frequent gun battles occurring in and around Reynosa in the late night and early morning hours. Separately, the state of Tamaulipas has issued a warning to avoid moving or touching improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have been found in and around the area of Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and San Fernando along dirt and secondary roads,” the warning says. “IEDs are being increasingly manufactured and used by criminal organizations in this region. An IED destroyed a Government of Mexico (Conagua) official vehicle in Rio Bravo and injured its occupant on January 23.”
“As a precaution, U.S. government employees have been ordered to avoid all travel in and around Reynosa and Rio Bravo outside of daylight hours and to avoid dirt roads throughout Tamaulipas.”
The warning advises Americans to avoid dirt roads, plan travel during daylight, monitor local media, and to refrain from touching objects on the road.
Another bulletin urges Americans not to travel to Colima state, Guerrero state, Michoacan state, Sinaloa state, Tamaulipas state, and Zacatecas.
The travel warning comes as a suspected Mexican cartel member fired a gunshot from the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border toward U.S. Border Patrol agents in Fronton, Texas. The agents returned multiple shots into Mexico. No Border Patrol agents were injured in the incident.
