EL PASO, Texas, Sept 12 (Reuter) U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Bliss in
Texas have been ordered to stay away from the Mexican border city of Ciudad
Juarez because of a rash of drugrelated killings there, officials said on
Friday.

Ciudad Juarez, which lies just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, is a
popular nighttime stomping ground for soldiers based at Fort Bliss, but it
has been rocked by about 20 drug murders in recent weeks.

Maj. Gen. John Costello, the senior military officer at Fort Bliss, ordered
the 13,000 active duty troops on the post to stay away from Ciudad Juarez
until things calm down. Anyone violating the ban, which went into effect late
on Thursday, will be courtmartialed.

``This order will not be rescinded until the general feels there is a certain
level of stability down there,'' Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt said.

Ciudad Juarez pulls in soldiers attracted by its many bars, restaurants and
strip clubs. Offutt said she did not know how many soldiers regularly cross
the border for a night out.

Any soldiers wanting to cross the border for a specific reason will need to
request a special pass.

Costello's order follows a string of killings in Ciudad Juarez in which some
of the victims were innocent bystanders, including at least one U.S. citizen.

The murders began shortly after Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the alleged head of a
major Mexico drug cartel based in Ciudad Juarez, died during plastic surgery
in Mexico City on July 4.

Law enforcement officials on both sides of the border believe the killings
are part of a turf war between rival traffickers struggling for control of
the lucrative cocaine trade.

17:55 091297