MEXICO CITY

Mexico and Guatemala will conduct joint security operations along their shared border to curb drug trafficking in the region, the Mexican military announced Tuesday.

Mexico’s Secretary of National Defense, Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, made the announcement during a press conference in Mexico City, a day after Guatemala’s Armed Forces clashed with armed men alleged to be members of a Mexican cartel on Guatemalan territory.

“A plan will be implemented to carry out coordinated operations along the border with Mexican Army forces on our territory, and similar operations will also be conducted with personnel from Guatemala. These operations begin today and are tentatively scheduled to end on the 11th. However, if necessary, they will be extended for as long as required,” Trejo said during the briefing.

He also said that the government has instructed the Southeast Military Air Region based in Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital city of Chiapas state, to conduct reconnaissance flights along the border on the Mexican side.

On Monday night, Guatemala’s Ministry of Defense reported a shooting in a small community in Huehuetenango near the border with Mexico. In an official statement, the Guatemalan Defense Ministry said that “unidentified illegal armed groups” entered Guatemala, where they encountered an army patrol conducting routine operations, at which point the attack on the soldiers occurred.

The confrontation left one Guatemalan soldier injured, though not seriously. A subsequent military deployment secured the area, resulting in the arrest of one individual and the seizure of heavy weapons, explosives, more equipment and drones.

On Tuesday, Trejo said the Mexican military had deployed troops along the border and exchanged information with their Guatemalan counterparts.

According to Trejo, the border region between Mexico and Guatemala is currently controlled by two criminal groups: the Sinaloa Cartel and the Chiapas-Guatemala Cartel, which operate there and move frequently between the two countries.