Mexican president laments murder of migrants by military

​​​​​​​By Jorge Antonio Rocha

MEXICO CITY (AA) - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed on Thursday the murder of six migrants by military officers in the border state of Chiapas.

"First, it is a regrettable fact and needs to be investigated and sanctioned. The elements of the Ministry of National Defense who fired are already at the disposal of the Attorney General's Office," Sheinbaum said at a news conference, "So, there is an investigation; it is not only the military police that must conduct the investigation, but also the Attorney General's Office and the elements are already at their disposal.”

Mexico's prosecution will investigate if there are "additional responsibilities" from commanders or only from the soldiers who fired and how the events unfolded, added the president.

The National Defense Ministry said soldiers deployed in Chiapas shot at a pickup truck Tuesday that was transporting migrants. Two soldiers allegedly shot at the vehicle after hearing gunshots coming from the truck.

Mexican military authorities, however, reported that the migrants and the driver were unarmed.

The account by the army indicated that military officers provided first aid to those injured when they realized who was aboard the pickup truck and promptly transported survivors to a hospital, where two more migrants died.

Seventeen migrants who were uninjured in the shooting were at the disposal of the National Institute of Migration.

Chiapa, which borders Guatemala, sits at the edge of southeastern Mexico -- a critical landmark for migratory flows in the hemisphere.

As of July, 229,379 migrants entered Chiapas, marking a historic surge of 80% compared to total entries reported in 2022, where migration offices documented 152,448 migrants crossing the Chiapas border.

Sheinbaum said the nationalities of the murdered migrants were Salvadorian, Egyptian and Peruvian.

"The Secretary of the Interior, along with the Foreign Ministry, is in contact with the embassies to support the families of the deceased and to coordinate everything that is required," she said.