At least 12 tourists mistakenly killed, including two Mexicans, in Egyptian air strike on convoy in the Western Desert.
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A tourism ministry spokesperson told the state Middle East News Agency that the tour group was without permits and their vehicles unlicensed.
Egypt did not give an exact breakdown of the casualties but said “the incident led to the death of 12 Mexicans and Egyptians and wounding of 10 others”.
“The joint forces of the police and the army, which were chasing terrorists in the Western Desert, opened fire by mistake on four pickups transporting Mexican tourists”, said in a statement the Egyptian Ministry of Interior on the night of Sunday to Monday.
In a tweet earlier, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto had demanded “an exhaustive investigation about what happened from the government of Egypt”. Its Foreign Ministry demanded a “full investigation and explanation of events”, as well as support from Egyptian authorities for Mexicans being transported to Cairo, according to a statement.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Brian Shott said officials are looking into whether an American citizen was involved in the incident.
According to Mexico’s foreign minister, Egypt will provide proper medical treatment to the victims and aid in the repatriation of the bodies back to Mexico, AP reported.
Eight Mexicans have allegedly been killed by Egyptian security forces after their tourist buses were mistaken for a militant convoy.
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.
The incident happened when Egyptian forces attacked a tourist group of twelve in the remote Al Wahat area, injuring six Mexican tourists and killing two.
Egyptian authorities insisted the convoy had entered a restricted zone that is off-limits to civilians, adding the organizers of the excursion will be punished.
Many guides work like freelancers and they don’t have companies so they get oral permission from the security personnel because they know them and they trust that they won’t take the tourists to other unsafe areas.
The nationalities of the non-Mexican victims were not immediately made public.
After Egypt’s military deposed former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, Islamist militants stepped up attacks against military targets in the Western Desert.
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The government says hundreds of police and soldiers have been killed, many of them in attacks claimed by ISIS.
