Mexican president denounces killing of tourists in Egypt
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has strongly condemned the recent killing of Mexican tourists by Egyptian security forces, demanding that the Cairo government conduct an "exhaustive" investigation into the fatal incident.
The Mexican president on Monday called on the Egyptian government to probe the deaths of at least two of its nationals following the attack on a group of tourists by Cairo's security forces on Sunday.
“Mexico condemns these acts against our citizens and has demanded that the Egyptian government conduct an exhaustive investigation of what happened,” the president wrote in a post on Twitter.
The incident occurred as the tourists were traveling in four vehicles in the Wahat area of the North African country’s Western Desert, which is popular with foreign tourists, but is also attractive to militants.
The attack left 12 Mexicans and Egyptians dead and 10 others wounded.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Interior Ministry has said that the vehicles were “mistakenly dealt with” in a security operation that involved both armed forces and military police.
Senior Egyptian authorities say the tourists had been in a restricted area as they came under attack by the government forces. However, a local tour guide in an interview with state-run BBC denied the Egyptian government’s claim, insisting the group was not in a restricted area.
Meanwhile, Mexico's Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu told a news conference that the tourists who were mistakenly killed by Egyptian security forces were hit by an airstrike.
Mexican survivors told Mexico's ambassador to Egypt that they had stopped for a meal when they "suffered an aerial attack with bombs launched by a plane and helicopters," Massieu said.
The Egyptian government says it would provide medical treatment to victims and aid in the repatriation of bodies back to Mexico.
Experts believe that the incident will cause serious harm to Egypt's lucrative tourist industry.
The developments come as Egypt has been witnessing deadly attacks carried out by Daesh-linked Takfiri militants in the Sinai Peninsula.
Velayat Sinai terrorists have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in Sinai Peninsula. Last November, the group pledged allegiance to the Daesh terrorist group, which is wreaking havoc primarily in Iraq and neighboring Syria.
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