Nogales, Mexico included in US travel alert

The U.S. State Department has issued an updated travel alert adding the border city of Nogales to its list of locales in Mexico where American travelers should be wary because of increasing violence.

The advisory attributes much of the violence in northern Mexico border cities to fighting among Mexican drug cartels for control of border-area narcotics trafficking routes.

Mexico's government has deployed military troops to the region to try to crack down on the drug organizations.

The alert said Nogales and Ciudad Juarez recently had public shootouts during daylight hours.

It also said U.S. citizens driving along Route 15 between Nogales and Hermosillio have been followed and harassed.