By Ana Isabel Martinez and Raul Cortes
MEXICO CITY, Oct 5 (Reuters) – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that her government has requested evidence from US authorities regarding allegations that gunfire originated from the Mexican side of the border and targeted US personnel, saying Mexican security forces had not detected any such incident.
“We asked for all the evidence because we have no evidence,” Sheinbaum said during her daily press conference. She added that no personnel from Mexico’s National Guard, Army or Navy had detected shots fired from Mexican territory toward the US.
The comments came a day after US Ambassador Ronald Johnson said on X that “shots were fired at US Coast Guard personnel” in a border area where the Mexican state of Tamaulipas meets Texas, and where Mexico on Sunday announced the deployment of Army and National Guard troops.
Johnson’s remarks followed Mexico’s announcement late Sunday of a joint border security effort known as “Operation Mirror,” under which 500 troops, helicopters, drones and anti-drone equipment will be deployed along the frontier.
The incident comes as Mexico and the US deepen security cooperation, though Sheinbaum has repeatedly rejected any US military intervention in Mexico.
Sheinbaum said Mexican authorities proposed “mirror operations” with US agencies after being informed of the alleged incident, as a precautionary measure.
“To avoid any of these situations, what was proposed was that mirror operations be carried out so there would be no problems,” she said. “We have not been given any evidence that these shots actually occurred, but to prevent any situation a mirror operation has already been carried out.”
(Reporting by Raul Cortes and Ana Isabel Martinez; Writing by Natalia Siniawski, Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Mark Porter)
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