“It is noteworthy that the six Mexicans are reported stable”, the Secretary said, “However, with indignation and deep regret, I must report that at this time we have enough information to confirm the deaths of two people”.
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“The area they were in was off limits to foreign tourists”, it said.
Ten other people were wounded in the attack, at least six of them Mexicans.
“Mexico condemns these acts against our citizens and has demanded that the Egyptian government conduct an exhaustive investigation of what happened”, he said.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, confirmed that at least two Mexican tourists had been killed and five others injured in the attack. Two days later, she said, they left the capital to visit the Bahariya Oasis, and came under attack from “bombs launched from airplanes and helicopters” when their tour bus stopped at the side of the road for a break. Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu told reporters her government had sent a diplomatic note to Egypt, expressing indignation and demanding a full inquiry.
Mexico said the victims of the attack were taken to Dar al-Fouad Hospital, an upscale and widely respected facility in Cairo’s eastern suburbs, and that the Mexican ambassador and consular staff were there to help them.
President Enrique Pena Nieto said 14 Mexicans were among those involved in Sunday’s “grave incident” in the Western Desert.
Tourism authorities in Egypt were already convening a crisis group to follow-up on the incident out of fear it could affect the country’s tourism market, said Daily News Egypt.
Egyptian officials say the tourists were in a no-go zone – and had not liaised with the authorities.
At a press conference in Mexico City, Egypt’s Ambassador Yasser Shaban suggested that the Egyptian troops were confused because vehicles used by the tourists were “similar to those used by terrorists”. The group was preparing to camp out in the desert.
The Egyptian military has tried to deflect blame and say it was the Ministry of Interior’s issue. According to the Mexican ambassador, it is estimated that the Mexican tourists arrived in Cairo on September 11.
A police source said special forces were carrying out an operation involving air support about 150km west of Bahariya. The Interior Ministry referred to them as being “mistakenly dealt with”.
Egypt has been struggling to quell a jihadist insurgency since the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, focused mainly on their primary holdout in the Sinai Peninsula in the east.
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Egypt’s western desert has always been a popular safari destination, with tourists flocking to its verdant oases, unique rock formations and white sand dunes. Egypt’s military and law enforcement is concerned that the porous border it shares with Libya is rife with smuggling and all sorts of illegal activities, not to mention that Islamic insurgency is on the rise.
