MEXICO CITY: Mexico has deployed nearly 15,000 soldiers and National Guardsmen to its border with the US, the army chief said Monday — admitting they are detaining migrants who try to cross, after the policy triggered backlash.

The deployment, announced by Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval in a press conference with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is in addition to the more than 6,000 security force members deployed to the southern border under a June 7 deal with the US, which is pressuring Mexico to do more to stop a surge of Central American migrants.—AFP