Mexico is sending 2,000 elite police to try to smother a fresh surge in drug killings on the U.S. border as the army intensifies its operations, denying it plans to withdraw troops.

“The soldiers are not leaving. On the contrary, we are redoubling patrols with 100 percent of our personnel. There will be soldiers everywhere,” said army spokesman Enrique Torres in Ciudad Juarez.

Calderon’s strategy in the border city, the bloodiest front in his war against drug cartels, is stumbling as rights groups accuse soldiers and police of rounding up innocent residents in violent house raids and beating confessions out of suspects.

Calderon, who has sent soldiers across Mexico to fight drug cartels, has said the unprecedented military presence in Ciudad Juarez is only temporary and soldiers will be replaced by newly trained police.