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| Egyptian security forces accidentally shoot dead 12 Mexican tourists and guides | Egyptian security forces accidentally shoot dead 12 Mexican tourists and guides |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| At least a dozen tourists and their guides have been killed in what is reported to be an accidental attack on their convoy by Egyptian security forces. | At least a dozen tourists and their guides have been killed in what is reported to be an accidental attack on their convoy by Egyptian security forces. |
| The tourists are reported to be Mexican and as many as ten other passengers in a convoy of four cars are said to have been injured. | |
| A statement from Egyptian interior ministry said that while police and armed forces were pursuing “terrorist elements” they accidentally engaged with a tourist convoy. | |
| The ministry statement claimed the tourists should not have been in that area and their presence there was “illegal”. | |
| “A joint force from the police and military, whilst chasing terrorist elements in the oasis area of the western desert tonight, accidentally engaged four four-wheel drives belonging to a Mexican tourist group,” the ministry said in a statement. | |
| “The incident resulted in the death of 12 Mexicans and Egyptians and the injury of 10 others who have been transferred to hospitals.” | |
| The statement added that the wounded were taken to hospital and an investigation had been launched into the circumstances of the incident. | |
| Egypt is battling an insurgency that gained pace after the military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013 after mass protests against his rule. | |
| The insurgency, mounted by Islamic State’s Egyptian affiliate, has killed hundreds of soldiers and police and has started to attack Western targets. | |
| Earlier on Sunday Islamic State released a statement carried by its supporters on Twitter saying it had repelled an attack by the Egyptian military in the western desert, a recent development for the insurgency that had been largely based in the Sinai Peninsula with occasional attacks taking place in Cairo and other cities. | |
| More to follow soon ... | More to follow soon ... |