MEXICO CITY, Oct 2 (Askume) – Mexican soldiers shot dead 33 migrants trying to evade a military patrol in a pickup truck, killing six migrants, the defense ministry said on Wednesday, raising tensions in southern Mexico as it faces pressure from the United States to curb immigration.
The ministry said in a statement that 10 other migrants were injured in the incident on Tuesday night. The group included people of Egyptian, Nepalese, Cuban, Indian and Pakistani nationality, but the statement did not specify the nationality of the deceased.
The ministry said the incident occurred around 9 p.m. local time on Tuesday as the patrol was traveling on a highway near the town of Huixtla, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Tapachula on the Guatemala border.
The pickup truck was said to have been pursued by two vehicles similar to those used by criminal gangs in the region, and soldiers reported hearing explosions before two police officers opened fire.
Four migrants died on the spot and two others died later in hospital.
The deaths have renewed focus on Mexico’s immigration policies and the military’s growing role in national security.
“These incidents are neither accidental nor isolated; they are the result of the Mexican government’s continued restrictive immigration policies,” the Southern Border Monitoring Collective, a group of advocates and civil society organizations, said in a statement.
Mexico has been under pressure from the United StatesReduce the number of migrants crossing the two countries’ shared border , which record numbers of people have been trying to cross in recent years to escape economic hardship and violence.
Illegal crossings have declined in recent months as the Biden administration has tightened border security ahead of the Nov. 5 election in which Vice President Kamala Harris faces Republican Donald Trump, a move Trump has vowed to do if re-elected.
Tapachula, located in the southern state of Chiapas, is the entry point into Mexico for many migrants struggling to reach the United States. Chiapas has also seen conflict this year between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel. In July, the turf war caused about 600 people to flee across the border into Guatemala.
Mexico’s Defense Ministry said the two soldiers who shot at the migrants had been removed from their posts and federal prosecutors had been notified. A military court will also conduct its own investigation.
It said it “reiterated its commitment to act strictly in accordance with the rule of law, a policy of zero impunity, and its readiness to assist civil authorities in establishing the facts.”
The ministry said it was coordinating with the Mexican Foreign Ministry to contact the appropriate embassy.
