MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- Helicopters were bringing 2,000 Mexican troops into the U.S.-Mexican border city of Juarez on Friday to quell a wave of drug-related violence blamed for 200 deaths since January, the city's mayor said.



Mexico has ordered troops to move near Juarez, shown here with El Paso, Texas, in the distance.



"Two rival drug cartels tried to push each other out of the city," Jose Reyes Ferriz told CNN.



Among those killed were about 20 police officers representing the state, the military and the federal and city governments, he said.



"Many [people] say the drug cartels targeted specifically the heads of the police departments," he said.



"The violence got extremely bad in the city."



He said no uninvolved civilians have been injured.



"The two rival drug cartels in Mexico, one's from the Gulf, one's from the Pacific -- and Juarez being right down the middle, they tried to push the other one out of the area," he said.  Watch police clash with suspected drug smugglers »



Juarez sits across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. The majority of the troops will be based in the city.



Defense Secretary Guillermo Galvan said Thursday 2,026 soldiers, 180 military tactical vehicles, three airplanes and more than a dozen drug detection devices would be used in the military operation.



Mexican Attorney General Medina Mora stressed that the violence that goes along with drug trafficking is "not in any way a sign of strength, but a sign of weakness, deterioration and decomposition."  E-mail to a friend



CNN's Ariel Crespo contributed to this report.
where is juarez What is the cause of death of 200 people? What are the two rival drug cartels trying to do? Juarez sits across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas What separates Juarez and ElPaso? what does mayor say what is the mission off troops
U.S.-Mexican border drug-related violence push each other out of the city," the the Rio Grande city of Juarez on Friday to quell a wave of drug-related violence blamed for 200 deaths since January, to quell a wave of drug-related violence
question: where is juarez, answer: U.S.-Mexican border | question: What is the cause of death of 200 people?, answer: drug-related violence | question: What are the two rival drug cartels trying to do?, answer: push each other out of the city," | question: Juarez sits across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, answer: the | question: What separates Juarez and ElPaso?, answer: the Rio Grande | question: what does mayor say, answer: city of Juarez on Friday to quell a wave of drug-related violence blamed for 200 deaths since January, | question: what is the mission off troops, answer: to quell a wave of drug-related violence