Egyptian troops 'accidentally' kill 12 tourists

In a bizarre incident, Egyptian security forces opened fire on a tourist convoy that was travelling in the western Sahara desert, killing 12 and injuring 10. The security forces claim that they wrongly believed them to be terrorists.

Following the incident, the Egyptian interior ministry said, "A joint police and military force chasing terrorist elements in an oasis area of the western desert tonight accidentally engaged four SUVs of a Mexican tourist group. The incident resulted in the death of at least 12 tourists, including two Mexicans, and the injury of 10 others who have been transferred to hospitals."

Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto has demanded that Egypt conducts a thorough investigation into the incident.

Nieto said he was deeply saddened by the lives lost in what he described as a tragic incident. He tweeted: "Mexico condemns these acts against our citizens and has demanded an exhaustive investigation."

Egypt has been constantly trying to fight with Islamist insurgency since years. A jihadi group known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, an ally to the Islamic State (ISIS), stepped up its operations against the police and the army after President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi took over in a military coup backed by street protests in 2014.