Mexican army and federal police patrols have begun in Juárez after the government deployed an additional 600 soldiers and federal police officers to the city.

The deployment is part of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador administration's new "17 Priority Cities" plan focused on Mexico's most-violent regions.

The plan seeks to better coordinate military, federal, state and municipal police forces to improve public safety, Juárez Mayor Armando Cabada said in a statement.

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The Mexican federal government sent an additional 400 soldiers and 200 federal police officers to Juárez, according to city news release.

The federal police include officers of the Gendarmerie, Federal Forces and National Security divisions, authorities said.

The Juárez deployment kicked off on Feb. 13 with a ceremony displaying hundreds of federal, state and city police and army vehicles in the parking lot of Benito Juárez Stadium.

The deployment includes military police, 50 army vehicles and 50 federal police vehicles.

The military had already been working with Juárez police prior to the launch of the new "17 Priority Cities" program.

The priority list include the Mexican border cities of Tijuana and Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo along the Texas border.

There were 105 murders in Juárez last month and there have been more than 55 in February, including 14 last weekend, according to a daily tally by Channel 44-XHIJ. By comparison, there were 72 homicides in January 2018.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at 546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.

Mexico '17 Priority Cities'

The Mexican government is deploying additional forces to 17 high-crime regions of the country as part of a new security plan. The cities are:

• Tijuana, Baja California.

• Juárez, Chihuahua.

• Acapulco, Guerrero.

• Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Jalisco

• Guadalajara, Jalisco.

• Benito Juárez, Quintana Roo.

• Salamanca, Guanajuato.

• Irapuato, Guanajuato.

• Uriangato, Guanajuato.

• Celaya, Guanajuato.

• Culiacán, Sinaloa.

• Manzanillo, Colima.

• Ecatepec de Morelos, Mexico state.

• Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.

• Chilpancingo, Guerrero.

• Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

• Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.

Source: Mexico Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection