Mexico and Washington trade accusations after deaths of two US agents

The Mexican government and the White House clashed Wednesday over the deaths of two Americans in connection with a drug raid, after U.S. media reported that the officials were CIA personnel.

The two Americans died in a car crash Sunday in the northern state of Chihuahua. Two Mexican investigators were also killed in the crash.

The CBS network and other U.S. media reported that the two Americans, whose identities have not been released, worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The U.S. ambassador to Mexico said on Sunday that they were U.S. embassy employees who died in a car accident.

On Wednesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that the federal government was investigating whether they had been operating in an internal security operation without authorization.

"Evidently, the military didn't know there were people participating who weren't Mexican citizens... that there were foreigners participating in the operation," Sheinbaum told reporters.

"This is something that Mexicans shouldn't take lightly."

In Washington, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump believes "a little compassion from Claudia Sheinbaum would go a long way for the two American lives that were lost."

The Trump administration "wants to see more cooperation," she said.

The Chihuahua state prosecutor reported that the Americans were returning from a raid on clandestine drug labs when their car, which was part of a five-vehicle convoy, went off the road and fell into a ravine. The convoy also included soldiers and members of the Chihuahua State Investigation Agency.

According to prosecutor Cesar Jauregui, the downed U.S. agents were "instructor officers" who "were performing training tasks" in the framework of anti-drug cooperation.