Twelve people, a mix of Egyptians and Mexican tourists, were killed and 10 were injured when Egyptian security forces mistakenly fired on their group in Egypt's Western Desert, the country's Interior Ministry announced Monday morning local time.
Egypt's interior ministry confirms death of 12 Mexicans and Egyptians in Western desert in mistaken attack by joint police/military unit— Tamer El-Ghobashy (@TamerELG) September 14, 2015
According to a statement released by Egypt's Ministry of the Interior, the incident occurred when the tourist group, traveling in four vehicles, wandered into a restricted area near where security forces were carrying out an "anti-terror operation."
#Mexico | #BREAKING : #Egypt's Interior Ministry says tourists had been in a banned area pic.twitter.com/FZuQcr4JlW— INC World (@INCWorldAgency) September 14, 2015
The statement read, in part:
A joint police and army force were chasing terrorist elements in the western desert area of Al-Wahat and they accidentally engaged with four 4-wheel drives belonging to Mexican tourists who were present in a restricted area. The incident resulted in the death of 12 people and the injury of 10 Mexicans and Egyptians, who have been transferred to hospitals for treatment.
An inspection team was formed to identify what happened and why the tourist convoy was present in the aforementioned restricted area.
The incident occurred following claims on social media by a group purporting to be ISIS that they had "repelled an attack by the Egyptian military in the western desert."
Depending on final casualty count, it's possible Egyptian security forces killed more foreigners in a day than terrorism has in years.— Evan Hill (@evanchill) September 14, 2015
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto took Twitter to condemn the killings and demand a full investigation by the Egyptian government while confirming Mexico will send diplomatic personnel to Egypt to assist the families of the deceased as well as the surviving victims and their families.
México condena estos hechos en contra de nuestros ciudadanos y ha exigido al gobierno de Egipto una exhaustiva investigación de lo ocurrido.— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) September 14, 2015
Recent tumult in Egypt has significantly reduced the number of tourists who have visited the country, from a reported 15 million in 2010 to 10 million in 2014, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
In an unrelated development, Egypt recently suffered a rash of resignations from government officials related to a bribing scandal in which government officials aided illegal land acquisitions.