Car bomb rocks Nuevo Laredo

Explosives in a Ford Ranger pickup parked at Nuevo Laredo’s city hall exploded shortly after 11 a.m., injuring bystanders and damaging vehicles. Explosives in a Ford Ranger pickup parked at Nuevo Laredo’s city hall exploded shortly after 11 a.m., injuring bystanders and damaging vehicles. Photo: Zapata Times Photo: Zapata Times Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Car bomb rocks Nuevo Laredo 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A car bomb detonated Friday in front of Nuevo Laredo's city hall, injuring seven people, according to prosecutors in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas.

It's the most recent in a string of car bombs targeting government officials in the city.

Explosives in a Ford Ranger pickup parked in front of the municipal building blew up shortly after 11 a.m., causing injuries to bystanders and damaging vehicles, the prosecutors said.

Laredo police said they received calls from residents near the Rio Grande reporting an explosion, and dispatched officers to the international bridges in the city's downtown. A plume of smoke could be seen from the U.S. side, officials said.

It is the second attack on city hall and the third car bomb in recent months in Nuevo Laredo. Since 2010, the scene of a bloody turf war between the Zetas criminal organization and their former masters the Gulf Cartel, Nuevo Laredo has seen violence increase this year as the west coast Sinaloa Cartel has joined the fray to wrest lucrative smuggling routes away from the Zetas.

The Sinaloa, led by Mexico's most wanted man, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, announced its presence in Nuevo Laredo on May 17, leaving 14 dismembered bodies inside a van parked in front of city hall. On April 24, a car bomb went off in front of the building, but no one was killed.

On May 4, 14 more bodies appeared along with a banner, apparently from Guzmán, threatening Nuevo Laredo Mayor Benjamín Galván. Images of the banner posted on the Internet show a digitally altered picture of Galvan made to look like Willy Wonka.

On May 24, another car bomb was detonated, this time at a hotel used by federal police staying in Nuevo Laredo.

In recent weeks, the violence had slowed down, but not completely subsided. Friday's attack ended the period of silence.

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Pictures posted on social media showed the twisted wreckage of a pickup in front of the city hall and bloody victims being treated by paramedics.

jbuch@express-news.net