<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Seven suspected cartel gunmen and one soldier were killed in a shootout Wednesday between the army and gang members in the northern Mexico border city of Nuevo Laredo, authorities said.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The shootings were the second time in as many weeks that large-scale violence has hit Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Police in the border state of Tamaulipas said military personnel were attacked and one soldeier was killed and seven were wounded. Seven presumed attackers also died, police said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The shootout took place on a roadway about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the U.S. border. State police said there had been “risk situations” — usually a reference to gunfire — at several points in the city, but that the outbreaks had been controlled.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In late November, gunfire in Nuevo Laredo forced the cancellation of school classes and an advisory from the U.S. Consulate to shelter in place.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the shootings in November came in response to the arrest of a cartel leader, but did not elaborate. The city has long been dominated by the Northeast cartel, an offshoot of the old Zetas gang.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo cancelled visa appointments Wednesday. AP/UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>