The Mexican military said soldiers opened fire on a truck carrying dozens of migrants this week, killing six people, Mexican media reported.
Mexico’s Defence Ministry said in a press release on Wednesday that the incident occurred near the town of Huixtla in the southern state of Chiapas the night before, October 1.
Immediately after the shooting, “the military identified 33 migrants of Egyptian, Nepalese, Cuban, Indian, Pakistani and Arab nationalities, of whom four died, 12 were injured and 17 were unharmed,” the press release said. It also added that two other people died after being taken to a local hospital.
The shooting happened about 41 kilometres (25 miles) from the town of Tapachula on the Guatemalan border, where many migrants and asylum seekers begin their perilous journey north through Mexico.
The Department of Defence said the two soldiers who opened fire have been removed from their posts. The case has been referred to the federal prosecutor’s office as well as its own military tribunal.
The incident reportedly took place at around 20:50 Tuesday (02:50 GMT, Wednesday) when the soldiers spotted a pickup truck-like vehicle travelling at high speed.
The press release explained that the truck “evaded the military” and was followed by two vehicles similar to those used by criminal gangs in the area. Two soldiers opened fire after “hearing a detonation,” the defence ministry said, but did not give further details.
The military said it was working with Mexico’s foreign ministry to coordinate with embassies of the countries where the victims live. The 17 migrants who were not injured in the shooting were handed over to Mexican migration authorities.
US border migration crisis
Critics say migrants and asylum seekers travelling north to the US often pay the price for law enforcement escalation. The surge in global migration has tested the migration systems of states in the region, most notably the US and Mexico.
For decades, migrants have crossed the border line stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico in hopes of finding a better future in the US. Over time, the illegal crossing routes have grown an infrastructure controlled by criminal gangs.
In 2023, about 2.5 million migrants crossed the southern border of the US, while in 2021 this figure was 1.7 million. In December 2023, the US border service detained a record number of illegal immigrants – 250 thousand people tried to illegally cross the border (13% more than a year earlier). Experts note that the US has no resources for prompt processing of documents at the border, as well as for detention and deportation of those who enter the country illegally, for example, on the roofs of commercial vehicles.
The migration crisis has provoked a conflict between the US federal government and the authorities of the state of Texas, which has the longest border with Mexico. Texas lawmakers have criminalised illegal border crossings and allowed state courts to make their own deportation decisions, bypassing federal immigration courts. In addition, barbed wire was installed on the border, and Governor Greg Abbott deployed 20,000 military and police officers.
