Mexico demanded Egypt launch a “swift and in-depth” investigation into the “accidental airstrike” on tourists including 15 Mexicans.
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The Islamic State in Egypt said in a statement that it had “resisted a military operation in the Western Desert” on Sunday, but provided no other details.
The ministry did not give a breakdown of the casualties, but said “the incident led to the death of 12 Mexicans and Egyptians and the wounding of 10 others”.
A statement from Egyptian interior ministry said while police and armed forces were pursuing “terrorist elements” they had accidentally engaged with a tourist convoy. “Egyptian authorities said the tourists were in an area that was ‘off-limits” but did not provide an exact location.
Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto took to Twitter to condemn the attack, describing it as a tragic incident and demanding a full investigation.
Egyptian security forces mistakenly killed 12 tourists – two of which were Mexican nationals – in the country’s Western Desert region Sunday, according to reports.
The group of 22 had parked their four 4×4 vehicles off-road on Sunday for a barbecue near the Bahariya oasis, a tourist site in the western desert, when army aircraft suddenly began shelling them from above, security sources said.
The investigation by Egyptian prosecution said that the bodies were burnt down during the accidental attack and that the injured were moved to Dar al-Fouad Hospital in the capital Cairo.
USA embassy spokesman Brian Shott said officials were looking into whether a U.S. citizen was involved in the incident. Egypt’s western oases – Bahariya, Dakhla, Kharga and Farafra – are spectacularly lovely , hence their popularity with today’s adventure tourists.
Egypt has been roiled by turmoil since the military ousted Mohamed Morsi – the country’s first freely elected president – in a 2013 coup.
Gabriela Bejarano (R), sister of Rafael Bejarano, one of the eight Mexicans killed in an incident in Egypt, leaves the Government Palace after a meeting with local officials in Guadalajara, Mexico, September 14, 2015.
Mexico’s government said at least two of the dead and six of the wounded are Mexicans. The group was preparing to camp out in the desert. But the group did not receive any warnings that the area they were passing through was restricted from any of the military checkpoints they had passed, or from their police escort.
The desert expanse has long attracted foreign sightseers, though tourism in Egypt has plummeted in recent years because of security concerns.
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The insurgency has killed hundreds of police and soldiers, and the same day as the attack, the IS affiliate claimed that it had defeated an assault by the Egyptian military.
