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Pentagon takes action after two US soldiers detained, disarmed by Mexican soldiers in US territory
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Pentagon takes action after two US soldiers detained, disarmed by Mexican soldiers in US territory

The incident occured on April 13

The Pentagon has initiated an investigation after two United States Army soldiers were briefly detained and disarmed by Mexican soldiers earlier this month. The tense situation was complicated by the fact that it occurred in U.S. territory near Clint, Texas.

What is the background?

As TheBlaze reported over the weekend, two U.S. soldiers — an Army sergeant and private — were briefly detained by a group of five or six Mexican soldiers on April 13. The U.S. personnel were sitting in an unmarked Customs and Border Protection vehicle conducting a routine surveillance mission at the time of the incident.

To de-escalate the situation, both U.S. soldiers complied with orders from their Mexican counterparts, who tactically approached them with high-powered FX-05 Xiuhcoatl machine guns, which are capable of firing more than 12 rounds per second.

The Army sergeant, who was armed with his service Beretta M9 pistol, was disarmed by the Mexican soldiers.

After a brief search and broken English to Spanish back-and-forth conversation, the Mexican soldiers released the U.S. personnel and departed in an unmarked Mexican military vehicle. CBP agents and U.S. military personnel quickly responded to the scene.

No one was injured during the incident.

What's happening now?

According to the Washington Examiner, Pentagon officials are investigating how the two U.S. soldiers responded and reviewing military guidance that left the soldiers essentially defenseless.

Though an official from U.S. Northern Command told the Examiner the incident was the first of its kind, the investigation "will help us modify any instructions that we're giving the troops" about how to handle similar situations in the future if they occur.

More from the Examiner:

Troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexico boundary go through joint readiness staging, or training on how to handle dangerous situations in the area. The official said he could not recall anything similar to last Saturday's encounter having taken place during a previous active-duty troop deployment.

No official protocol exists for how to navigate a run-in with a foreign military, but the senior official said the soldiers were trained to "de-escalate" the situation. By surrendering at least one gun, they followed existing protocol, though it left them unarmed.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials have contacted the Mexican government requesting an explanation and why their solders were seemingly patrolling the border area while in U.S. territory.

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