Smoke filled the skies, and chaos erupted across parts of Mexico after the Mexican army killed a powerful cartel leader on Sunday, prompting new travel warnings and questions about safety for United States tourists.

Two Americans who were kidnapped by cartel members shortly after crossing into Mexico from Brownsville last month are speaking out for the first time.

In a video filmed Wednesday by a person near the shootouts in Nuevo Laredo, which sits across the border from Laredo, rounds of gunfire can be heard in the distance. South Texas sheriff warns about traveling to Nuevo Laredo amid ‘intensive shootings’Officer Emanuel Diaz, Laredo police spokesperson, told KSAT12 that they are continuing to monitor the situation. The Laredo Police Department continues to monitor reports of ongoing violence in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. It appears that... Posted by Laredo Police Department on Friday, January 3, 2020There are four national bridges connecting Laredo and Nuevo Laredo: the Gateway to the Americas, the Juarez-Lincoln International, Colombia Solidarity and the World Trade Bridge. No one in Laredo has been injured due to the Nuevo Laredo shootings.

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) – Gangsters unleashed mayhem in the northern border city of Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas, blocking major avenues, burning vehicles and engaging soldiers in shootouts that left one suspected gunman dead. U.S. government personnel remain subject to normal movement and curfew restrictions in Nuevo Laredo as described in the current Mexico Travel Advisory. Friday’s incidents came on the heels of other violence in previous days after federal and state police moved 75 inmates from a Nuevo Laredo prison. The decision to expand the program to Tamaulipas alarmed observers given the lawlessness and cartel dominance in the state. The U.S. State Department has long had Tamaulipas listed for its highest-level travel alert — the same as for war-torn places like Syria and Afghanistan.