The FINANCIAL — Security forces carrying out antiterrorism operations in the Western Desert mistakenly killed at least 12 people on September 13, including tourists from Mexico and their Egyptian guides, Egypt’s interior ministry said, according to Nasdaq.
The group had been in a convoy of four sport-utility vehicles near an oasis in the area, a popular activity for tourists in Egypt, when a joint police and army unit fired on them, the ministry said early on September 14.
The ministry said the unit had been chasing terrorist elements in the area and the tourist group had entered a restricted zone. At least 10 more people were injured and taken to hospitals, the ministry said.
The episode marks the first time Egyptian security forces have killed tourists in a continuing campaign against an insurgency that has escalated sharply over the past two years.
The incident occurred the same day an Islamic State affiliate said it is operating in the Western Desert area, according to the SITE Intelligence group, which cited social-media postings accompanied by photos.
An Islamic State affiliate has had a firm presence in Egypt’sNorthern Sinai Peninsula since last year, staging attacks on police and military installations that the government says have killed hundreds of personnel.
Mexico’s foreign ministry said it had confirmed the deaths of two Mexican nationals and that it is working on identifying them. The ministry said late Sunday that an undetermined number of Mexican nationals were caught in the attack.
Mexican President Enrique Peñ a Nieto condemned what he called a “tragic incident” and demanded that Egypt’s government conduct a thorough investigation.
He said through his official Twitter account that he ordered the foreign ministry to increase staff at the Mexican Embassy in Cairo to support victims and their relatives. Mexico’s ambassador to Egypt, Jorge Alvarez Fuentes is assisting several Mexican nationals who were injured and hospitalized, Mr. Peñ a Nieto added. The ministry said the ambassador had spoken to five Mexicans who were in stable condition at Cairo’sDar-El-Fouad Hospital.
Sunday’s announcement by an apparent new affiliate of Islamic State, calling itself Islamic State Egypt, marks the first time the group has formally asserted a presence in the Western Desert and underscores the government’s struggle to contain the radical group.
Islamic State affiliates have also claimed multiple high-profile bombings within the capital Cairo, causing alarm over their reach into the nation’s most-populous regions.
The interior ministry didn’t specify exactly where the mistaken attack on the tourists had happened and didn’t address the fresh claim. It said it had set up an investigative team to look into how and why the tourist group had entered the restricted area.
A spokesman for the defense ministry didn’t return calls seeking comment on the Islamic State Egypt announcement on September 13.
The timing of the tourists’ deaths suggests that security forces have launched new operations in the west, where Egyptian authorities have tried to slow the smuggling of weapons and people between Egypt and neighboring Libya, where a political impasse has caused a security vacuum.
The Western Desert contains scenic oases, which have been popular with tourists, despite a dramatic decline in foreign visitors since a popular revolt unseated Egypt’s longtime president in 2011.
Egypt’s current government has been eager to promote tourism and foreign investment, insisting the country has been on a path toward economic and political stability, but the rise in terrorism has undermined those claims.
Separately on September 13, Egypt’s military said a seven-day-old campaign in the northern Sinai against Islamic State militants had left 296 militants and eight soldiers dead.
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