CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) — Mexican soldiers killed 11 attackers near the Mexico-Texas border Thursday, Tamaulipas state authorities said.

Around 2:30 p.m. soldiers on patrol were ambushed on a dirt road in the community of Los Angeles in the Miguel Aleman township, said Luis Alberto Rodriguez, head of the Tamaulipas state security coordinating group.

Civilians began shooting at the soldiers from the brush, he said.

The regional army command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The area is controlled by the Gulf cartel, but has also seen incursions from a splinter of the Zetas and the Jalisco New Generation cartel. There had been an increased military presence since the killing this month of a child when gunmen attacked his family’s vehicle in the area.