Egypt says 7 Mexicans among 12 killed in accidental security raid

The Egyptian prosecution said Monday that seven bodies of Mexican nationals were found among the 12 killed in an accidental raid by security forces, official Al-Ahram news website reported.

An Egyptian security raid at Bahariya Oasis in the Western Desert late Sunday evening killed 12 tourists by mistake, including Mexicans and Egyptians, and injured 10 others.

The investigation by Egyptian prosecution said that the bodies were burnt down during the accidental attack and that the injured were moved to Dar al-Fouad Hospital in the capital Cairo.

Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy in Cairo has sent a delegation to the hospital to check on the injured people that included an American tourist, according to Al-Ahram.

Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu told a press conference Monday that at least two Mexicans were confirmed dead, adding that the Mexican survivors told Mexico's ambassador to Egypt that they were attacked by an air raid in a break during their tourist trip.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has made a phone call to his Mexican counterpart, offering his condolences and asserting full cooperation to hospitalize the injured Mexicans and facilitate returning the dead bodies back to Mexico.

"Shoukry explained during the call that the Mexican tourists were present at a forbidden area and their presence coincided with a security pursuit of terrorists who had similar 4x4 vehicles," Egyptian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement Monday.

"Mexico condemns these incidents against our citizens," Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto wrote on his Twitter account in response to the accident, calling Egypt for "a thorough investigation of what happened."

Egypt's Interior Ministry said Sunday that a joint police and military operation was "chasing terrorist elements" when it "mistakenly" targeted four vehicles carrying the Mexican tourists.

Being the gateway to lawless Libya, Egypt's Western Desert has been exploited by terrorists, who mainly target security forces nationwide and particularly in the restive Sinai Peninsula.

In July 2014, at least 21 Egyptian soldiers and several others were injured in a terrorist attack against security forces at Al-Farafra Oasis in the country's Western Desert.

Egypt has been battling a surge of anti-security attacks, especially in its North Sinai province, since the military removed former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 in response to mass protests against his rule.

Hundreds of police and military men have been killed in the attacks claimed by Egypt's most active militant group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which has changed its name to "Sinai State" and declared allegiance to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group last year.

Over the past few days, the Egyptian army has killed about 300 militants and arrested a similar number of suspects during a massive security operation in major towns of North Sinai as part of the country's "war against terrorism." Endit