The Interior Ministry in a Monday statement said that a joint police/army force had engaged four vehicles that had entered a restricted zone in the area’s Wahat region “while chasing terrorist elements”.
“Twelve people were killed and ten others injured in the attack,” the ministry said, noting that it had since established a fact-finding committee to investigate the incident.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, confirmed that at least two Mexican tourists had been killed and five others injured in the attack.
“Mexico condemns these acts against our citizens and has called on the government of Egypt to launch a thorough investigation of what happened,” Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said in a statement.
Egypt’s Tourism Ministry, for its part, said the tourists had been in an off-limit area and had been using unlicensed vehicles for a safari expedition that had not been approved by the local authorities.
Egypt has been roiled by turmoil since the military ousted Mohamed Morsi – the country's first freely elected president – in a 2013 coup.
In the more than two years since, militants have mounted numerous attacks on Egyptian security forces, particularly in the restive Sinai Peninsula, which shares borders with both Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Source: Bloom Gist
