Gunmen force National Guard troops to flee observation post near Mexico border

ASSOCIATED PRESS

4:34 a.m. January 5, 2007

TUCSON, Ariz. – National Guard troops at an observation post near the Mexico border were forced to flee a group of armed people, who later ran into Mexico, authorities said.

The troops, who are not allowed to apprehend illegal border crossers, withdrew safely and no one was injured, said National Guard Sgt. Edward Balaban.

U.S. Border Patrol officials are investigating the 11 p.m. Wednesday incident and trying to determine who the armed people were and why they approached the post near Sasabe, in the desert corridor between Nogales and Lukeville. Balaban said the troops didn't know how many people were involved because it was so dark.

_____

Minutemen plan to patrol anew after border incursion

By Dale Quinn

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Volunteers with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps are headed for the Arizona-Mexico border to provide backup for National Guard troops in response to an incident near Sasabe in which the approach of armed men forced soldiers to retreat.

About 11 p.m. Wednesday, soldiers with a National Guard Entry Identification Team — which provides additional eyes and ears for the U.S. Border Patrol and notifies it of suspicious activity — saw a group of armed people approaching them in the desert, said Mario Martinez, spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Border Patrol Office.

The group came within 100 yards of the National Guard post, so the troops moved to a safer location and notified Border Patrol agents, Martinez said.

When agents arrived minutes later, the armed individuals were gone, but the agents tracked their footprints to the U.S.-Mexican border, Martinez said.

The incident occurred in the west desert corridor between Nogales and Lukeville near Sasabe, which has been a busy area for marijuana seizures since last year.