Six migrants from different nationalities were killed after Mexican soldiers opened fire on a truck near the Guatemalan border, according to a statement released by Mexico's Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA) on Wednesday.
The shootings come just one day after the swearing in of newly elected President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office Tuesday. Her predecessor and mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, gave the Mexican armed forces great latitude and power to enforce the law.
SEDENA said that Mexican troops said they heard shots as several vehicles began advancing toward them late Tuesday on the Villa Comaltitlán-Huixtla Highway in the town of Huixtla, which is part of the southern state of Chiapas.
The Mexican soldiers were preparing to carry out ground reconnaissance at 8:50 p.m. when they suddenly detected a pickup truck that was going at high speed. Behind the pickup were two other vehicles, “like those used by criminal groups in that region,” the SEDENA statement said.
Upon seeing the military personnel, the drivers took evasive actions, but it was already too late.
🇲🇽 | ÚLTIMA HORA: Militares mexicanos balean a migrantes en Chiapas:
— Alerta Mundial (@AlertaMundoNews) October 2, 2024
Presuntamente, los confundieron con personas relacionadas al crimen organizado. Eran árabes, hindús, nepalíes y cubanos; hay al menos 6 muertos. pic.twitter.com/GsrPF7PN2H
Two soldiers opened fire on the truck, which authorities later learned were transporting migrants from Cuba, Egypt, India, Nepal and Pakistan and other countries. The Mexican troops then investigated the truck and found four migrants had died and a dozen were injured as a result of gunfire.
Local prosecutors confirmed that two of the injured migrants who were rushed to the General Hospital of Huixtla soon died from bullet wounds, leaving a total of six dead migrants from the tragic incident.
An estimated 17 migrants were unharmed in the shooting and were later taken into the custody of Mexico’s National Immigration Institute.
The document indicates that the undocumented immigrants were of various nationalities, including Cuban, Egyptian, Hindu, Nepalese, Pakistani and Arab origin.
So far, the actual identities of the victims have not been released from officialdom. However, the Diario del Sur Mexican news portal identified the two migrants who died upon arriving at the hospital due to the severity of their injuries as 18 year-old Selvia and 42-year old Neima, both women from Egypt.
The aforementioned media added that among the migrants treated there were three more of Egyptian nationality: 50-year old Salas, 14-year old Salas and 30 year-old Aya.
Four from Nepal received medical attention including 21-year old Oli, 12-year old Dinesh, 28-year old Auction, and 24-year old Shajan.
Diario del Sur also reported that a 29-year-old man, originally from Pakistan, was also admitted, along with four other unidentified people.
According to a report published by ABC News, migrant rights activist Irineo Mujica said he doubted the migrants or their smugglers opened fire.
Mujica, who has a long history of traveling alongside migrant caravans in Chiapas told the American national news network that, “It is really impossible that these people would have been shooting at the army. Most of the time, they get through by paying bribes.”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR/ACNUR in Spanish) published an online statement saying that it “expresses its concern about the events in Chiapas,” adding that “people in migration are exposed to great risks during their journey, and that is why it is indispensable they have legal means of access, travel, and integration to avoid tragedies like these.”
After the shootings, the two soldiers who fired their weapons at the trucks were separated from their duties and the incident will be investigated by the Mexican Attorney General's Office (FGR), the statement says.
SEDENA also reported that the Attorney General's Office for Military Justice will also lead its own “investigations regarding military discipline” and said it would coordinate with the Mexican Foreign Ministry to maintain contact with the corresponding embassies of the casualties.
