MADRID, 1 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Mexican Army has recognized this Tuesday that members of the Armed Forces fired at a van in which seven civilians were on board, after allegedly shots were heard and the vehicle suffered an accident, causing the death of five people.
This has been confirmed in a statement by the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena), detailing that elements of the security corporation did attack five young people who lost their lives last Sunday in the Mexican town of Nuevo Laredo, in the state Tamaulipas, in the east of the country.
After the residents of the area demonstrated to condemn what they describe as an “extrajudicial execution” -since the young people did not carry weapons or attacked the military-, Sedena has recognized the actions of its soldiers giving a description of the facts.
“At approximately 4:50 a.m. (local time) on Sunday, February 26, 2023, military personnel from an Operations Base deployed in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas carried out reconnaissance in the urban area of ??that municipality, in support of the structure of public security, when they heard firearms shots”, explained the Defense portfolio in the letter.
After hearing the shots, the military approached the area where the sound came from and decided to start a chase against a suspicious vehicle that sped up when it witnessed the Army.
“They visualized a van-type vehicle with seven individuals on board, who were moving at excessive speed with the lights off and without license plates, whose members, upon observing the presence of the troops, accelerated speed in an untimely and evasive manner, stopping their march at later colliding with a parked vehicle,” the statement continued.
After the impact, according to Sedena, the soldiers approached and opened fire on the passengers, causing the death of five people and seriously injuring another, while one of them remained unharmed, as reported by ‘El Sol de México’.
Meanwhile, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office has launched an investigation to clarify what happened and verify the veracity of the version of the Armed Forces, which contrasts with that of the neighbors, who assure that the military fired at the vehicle when it was moving, which which caused the driver to lose control and collide with another car.
The Army, however, has endorsed its “commitment to work in strict adherence to the rule of law and with full respect for Human Rights”, detailing that it is providing “all the facilities” to the competent authorities and organizations.