A shootout in northern Sonora has claimed the life of a Mexican soldier.

The attack came after soldiers carried out an operation near the city of Altar, a nearly two-hour drive south of the Sasabe border crossing. That resulted in the arrest of three people, as well as the seizure of vehicles and high-powered weapons.

But in response, Sonoran security officials say the alleged criminal group attacked another Defense Ministry unit in the area, killing one soldier and wounding two others.

In recent years, this region of Sonora has seen regular flare-ups of extreme violence, with nearby Caborca one of the state’s epicenters of murder.