GRNLive Foreign Correspondents Network

Guardian -  Soldiers killed 25 suspected drug cartel members yesterday in a raid and gun battle in a Mexican state near the US border that has seen a surge in gang violence, the military said. Mexico's defence department said soldiers on a reconnaissance flight over Ciudad Mier in Tamaulipas state saw several gunmen in front of a property. When troops on the ground moved in, gunmen opened fire, starting a gunbattle that killed 25 suspected cartel members, according to the military. The statement said two soldiers were injured.

Authorities rescued three people believed to be kidnap victims in the raid, according to the statement. The military said troops seized 25 rifles, four grenades, 4,200 rounds of ammunition and 23 vehicles. The raid came after President Felipe Calderón tried to rally frustrated Mexicans behind the increasingly bloody drug war yesterday, saying he knows violence has surged under his watch, but arguing that it is the price of confronting powerful and brutal cartels. Calderón delivered his annual state-of-the-nation address two days after his government brought down the third major kingpin in less than a year. But it also came less than two weeks after the massacre of 72 migrants near the US border, which laid bare how freely drug traffickers operate in pockets of the country.

Ioan Grillo is available in Mexico City.