American special operations forces will expand their training of Mexican commando teams, teaching them to hunt cartel chieftains like they were al-Qaida extremists. It’s a sign the U.S. is preparing for a long shadow war against the cartels.

The training, detailed in documents obtained by the Associated Press, will be reportedly conducted under an expanded special operations program based at the U.S. Army Northern Command’s headquarters — which oversees the Pentagon’s military operations on the continent. The program has previously tutored “Mexican military, intelligence, and law enforcement officials to study U.S. counterterrorist operations,”