The US government has started planning for a new mission ‘to target drug cartels’ in Mexico, as per an NBC news report citing officials. The potential mission is already in “the early stages of training”, but a deployment to Mexico is not imminent, the NBC news report added. The operation would involve sending American troops and intelligence officers for on-the-ground operations inside Mexico, the report said. The US troops, many of whom would be from JSOC* and CIA**, would operate under the authority of the US intelligence community, known as Title 50 status, the report said. The most famous example of a covert strike using US troops under Title 50 authority was the 2011 Navy SEAL attack on al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. The officials also said there are ongoing discussions within the

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