By Lizbeth Diaz and Ana Isabel Martinez
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican authorities arrested soldiers who were part of a patrol that opened fire on a pickup truck killing six migrants, federal prosecutors said on Thursday, two days after the incident.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the killings, which happened the day she was inaugurated, and the country’s Catholic bishops sharply criticized the growing power of the military.
Six people died and 10 were injured in southern Chiapas state on Tuesday near the border with Guatemala after soldiers fired on the truck transporting 33 migrants.
“It’s a regrettable event and it must be investigated and punished,” said Sheinbaum during a press conference. “A situation like this cannot be repeated.”
Mexican federal prosecutors have identified three of the victims as Egyptian nationals, while one came from Honduras and another from Peru. Sheinbaum noted that one of the dead migrants was from El Salvador.
Later on Thursday, however, the Honduran foreign minister denied that any Honduran national died in the incident.
The other 27 migrants include citizens of Egypt, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Cuba, according to prosecutors.
In a statement, the prosecutors disclosed that the soldiers face an investigation in which local authorities are working with rights experts, immigration officials, the Guatemalan government and Interpol.
The surviving migrants are also being interviewed along with assistance from their nations’ consulates, as well as psychologists and other specialized personnel on hand, the statement added.
In its initial description of the deadly incident, Mexico’s defense ministry explained that soldiers opened fire after the pick-up truck tried to evade a military patrol and that soldiers reported hearing explosions before two officers opened fire.
In a statement released later on Thursday, Mexico’s Catholic bishops objected to what they described as the “disproportionate use of lethal force” by the soldiers.
“This tragedy arises not as an isolated event, but as a consequence of the militarization of migration policy and an increased presence of armed forces on the southern border of the country, which has been a constant,” according to the statement, which also called for an impartial probe into the incident.
Peru’s government also condemned the killings in a statement on Wednesday and insisted that Mexican authorities carry out an investigation.
The office of El Salvador’s president did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Egypt’s Mexican embassy said it did not have information to share.
A security crisis has been growing in the southern Mexican region that borders Guatemala, where a territorial battle between powerful criminal groups has led to a sharp increase in violence over the last year.
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez and Lizbeth Diaz; Additional reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador; Writing by Laura Gottesdiener, Brendan O’Boyle and Sarah Morland; Editing by David Gregorio)
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