Killed 12 people in mistake

CAIRO: Egyptian security forces have mistakenly killed 12 people including Mexican tourists while chasing terrorists in the vast Western Desert, sparking condemnation of what Mexico called a "deplorable" air attack.

A joint police and military operation Sunday "chasing terrorist elements" had "mistakenly" targeted four pick-up trucks carrying Mexican tourists, the interior ministry said in a statement.

It did not give a casualties breakdown, but said "the incident led to the death of 12 Mexicans and Egyptians and the wounding of 10 others".

It said the tourists had been in an "off-limits" area, but did not give an exact location.

Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu told reporters that at least two Mexican tourists had been killed in an air strike.

The group had arrived in Cairo on September 11 and left two days later on their way to the Bahariya oasis, Ruiz Massieu said.

She said six Mexican survivors told Mexico´s ambassador to Cairo that they had stopped for a meal when they "suffered an aerial attack with bombs launched by a plane and helicopters".

Ruiz Massieu said Mexico had expressed its "deep dismay over these deplorable events" in a diplomatic note to Cairo´s ambassador, demanding a "swift, exhaustive and deep investigation".

She said Egypt had pledged to create an investigative committee into the incident that would be headed by the prime minister.

In a tweet earlier, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto had demanded "an exhaustive investigation about what happened from the government of Egypt".

Mexico´s envoy in Cairo had visited wounded nationals in the city´s Dar al-Fouad Hospital where they were listed in stable condition, the foreign ministry in Mexico City said.