Two Americans shot last week in Mexico City were working for the Central Intelligence Agency, according to officials in the Obama administration.

The two men, whose identities are being kept secret, were reportedly part of a U.S. government effort to help the Mexican military combat drug trafficking.

Traveling in an armored SUV on the highway leading to the city of Cuernavaca, near Tres Marias, south of Mexico City, the men, accompanied by a Mexican naval officer serving as their interpreter, were on their way to a military shooting range. They were wounded when a group of gunmen in four vehicles surrounded the SUV and opened fire.

Some of the gunmen allegedly belonged to the Federal Police. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has suggested that 12 police officers arrested for alleged involvement in the shooting might have ties to criminal organizations.

The CIA agents have been flown back to the United States, leading some Mexican politicians to questions whether they will cooperate with the official investigation into the incident.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

To Learn More:

Americans Shot in Mexico Were C.I.A. Operatives Aiding in Drug War (by Randal C. Archibold and Eric Schmitt, New York Times)

U.S. Workers Shot in Mexico May Be CIA Employees (by William Booth and Greg Miller, Washington Post)

El parte oficial: eran de la CIA (by Carlos Loret de Mola, El Universal)