Car Bombing Raising Fears Among Juarenses

The car bombing in Juarez has brought a new level of fear to Juarez, as the city is dealing with shock over what many refer to as narco-terrorism.

Border crossers from Juarez coming into El Paso all carried an extra weight of concern on their shoulders as they walked into the U.S. side of the border.

“They are worse than the terrorists from over there,” says one woman, while one man says, “I think it’s worse than Iraq,” comparing this bomb blast to the sights and sounds heard all too often during the Iraq war.

The tallies are still conflicting but authorities in Juarez say at least three people were killed in the explosion.

Investigators say those responsible lured emergency crews to an intersection using a dead body dressed as a Juarez police officer.

The man in the police uniform wasn’t really an officer. What was real was the terror that rattled the city when a car packed with explosives slammed into the group of emergency personnel.

The explosion happened along the streets of 16 de septiembre and Bolivia some two miles away from El Paso.

Here in the Sun City, Juarez border crossers are left almost speechless and in a panic. “Too much violence over there,” says one woman.

But despite the threat of this attack on a busy street, Juarez’s mayor is still trying to minimize the perceived danger on the people of this city rocked with fast-flowing fear.

“We don’t have any information to lead us to believe that there will be attacks on the general population itself,” said Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz.

Federal investigators say the bombing was in retaliation for the arrest of Jesus Acosta Guerrero, a top leader of the drug gang ‘La Linea’ – the enforcement arm of the Juarez drug cartel.