Egyptian Army Attack Mexican Convoy, Killing 12 Accidentally
KABUL: (Middle East Press) The Egyptian security forces have accidentally opened fire on at least 12 civilians including two Mexicans in the country’s western desert.
The incident took place around 4pm on Sunday as the victims were traveling in four buses in the Wahat area at the Bahariya oasis.
The Egyptian interior ministry said a joint policy and military force was “chasing terrorist elements” in the area when it “accidentally engaged four four-wheel drives belonging to a Mexican tourist group”.
It said 12 had been killed and 10 injured in the shooting.
Meanwhile, the Mexican Foreign Ministry also confirmed that at least two of its national had been killed in the incident.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto also condemned the attack on the tourists, urging the Egyptian government to carry out a full investigation into the incident.
An Egyptian human rights lawyer, Amr Imam, told the Guardian that one his relatives, Awad Fathi, was among six Egyptians killed in the convoy.
He said Fathi, 37, was a manager and tour guide operator at the Kisr al-Buwati Hotel in the Bahariya oasis, a popular tourist stop around 370km south of Cairo.
The Mexican government said the injured had been taken to Dar-el-Fouad hospital in Giza, south-west of central Cairo, where they were being attended to by consular staff.
Earlier on Sunday, Daesh militants operating in Egypt also released a statement on Twitter, saying the Takfiri group had repelled an attack by the Egyptian military in the Western Desert.
