Two U.S. service members involved in the operation near the border with Mexico were killed in a vehicle accident Tuesday morning, with another troop being seriously injured, the military said.
The cause of the accident near Santa Teresa in NM is under investigation, the military's Northern Command said in a statement on social media. Santa Teresa is located on the outskirts of El Paso in Tex.
The military said the three were deployed to support the joint task force at the Southern border. This envisaged military operations leadership at the border last month as part of the Trump administration's efforts to cut illegal intersections.
The military did not disclose the names of the killed service members. The three were Marines, according to US military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational issues.
Thousands of troops have been sent to the southwestern border in recent months, following President Trump's order to increase the role of the military in staving the flow of immigration to the United States.
Trump declared a state of emergency at the border on the first day of his second term, pledging to send US troops to tackle immigrants, drug cartels and smugglers. Approximately 1,600 Marines and Army soldiers have been sent to secure the border and have already joined 2,500 Army Reservists.
Another wave of troops was sent in February and March, bringing the total number of active duty forces at the border to around 9,000, according to Pentagon officials.
Vehicle accidents are a common cause of death in the US military. From 2010 to 2019, at least 123 service members were killed as a result of 3,753 accidents, including tactical vehicles, according to the Government's Accountability Office, an independent federal watchdog.
