WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say the Pentagon is stepping up aid for Mexico's bloody drug war with a new U.S.-based special operations headquarters to teach Mexican security forces how to hunt drug cartels the same way special operations teams hunt al-Qaida.

The officials say such assistance could help Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto establish a military force to focus on drug criminal networks that have terrorized Mexico and threatened the Southwest border.

Based at the U.S. Northern Command in Colorado, Special Operations Command-North will build on a commando program that has brought Mexican security officials to study U.S. counterterrorist operations, to show them how the U.S. built an interagency network to target al-Qaida.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive missions.