TAPACHULA, Mexico: An 11-year-old Egyptian girl and her 18-year-old sister were among those killed after Mexican army troops opened fire on a truck carrying migrants earlier this week, an official said Friday.
The sisters, and four other migrants from countries including Peru and Honduras, were killed on Tuesday in the southern state of Chiapas.
An official in the state’s prosecutors office confirmed the identification of the two sisters and said their father was wounded in the shooting, but survived.
Federal officials, including newly inaugurated President Claudia Sheinbaum, again refused Friday to confirm the ages or genders of the six migrants killed in the shooting, which occurred on Sheinbaum’s first day in office.
Soldiers claimed they heard shots and returned fire and officials have studiously avoided saying the migrants were killed by army gunfire. However, that appears to be the case, and two soldiers have been relieved of duty and turned over to civilian prosecutors for questioning.
The killings placed in doubt Sheinbaum’s statements over her first days in office that human rights will be at the forefront of her administration’s policies.
Asked about her immigration policy Friday, Sheinbaum said only that the killings were under investigation and doubled down on earlier claims that the government doesn’t violate human rights.
“First of all, human rights are respected,” Sheinbaum said. “That is very important, that is why it is called a humanistic immigration policy, because human rights are at the forefront.”
Three of the dead were from Egypt, and one each from Peru and Honduras. The other has apparently not yet been identified.
Ten other migrants were wounded in the shooting. but there has not been any information on their conditions.
Peru’s foreign ministry confirmed one Peruvian was killed and demanded “an urgent investigation” into the killings. Peru and Mexico have had damaged relations since a 2022 diplomatic spat.
It was the worst killing of migrants by authorities in Mexico since police in the northern state of Tamaulipas killed 17 migrants in 2021.
Sheinbaum has said the shootings are being investigated to see if any commanders might face punishment, and noted “a situation like this cannot be repeated.”
But she left out any mention of that Thursday at a ceremony at a Mexico City army base, where army and navy commanders pledged their loyalty to her in front of massed combat vehicles and hundreds of troops.
“In our country, there is not a state of siege, there are no violations of human rights,” Sheinbaum said, as she promised wage increases for soldiers and sailors.
The shootings Tuesday occurred near the city of Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala.
The Defense Department initially said that soldiers claimed to have heard shots as a convoy of three trucks passed the soldiers’ position.
The Attorney General’s Office later said all three trucks ignored orders to stop and tried to flee. The soldiers pursued them and reported coming under fire from the convoy, and returned fire.
One of the trucks eventually stopped, the driver reportedly fled, and a total of 33 migrants were found aboard, from the three countries already mentioned, as well as Nepal, Cuba, India and Pakistan.
The Defense Department said four of the migrants were found dead, and 12 wounded. Two of the wounded later died of their injuries. Sheinbaum refused to say whether any weapons were found in the migrants’ truck.
The area is a common route for smuggling migrants, who are often packed into crowded freight trucks. It has also been the scene of drug cartel turf battles, and the department said the trucks “were similar to those used by criminal groups in the region.”
Irineo Mujica, a migrant rights activist, said he doubted the migrants or their smugglers opened fire.
“It is really impossible that these people would have been shooting at the army,” Mujica said. “Most of the time, they get through by paying bribes.”
If the deaths were the result of army fire, as appears likely, it could prove a major embarrassment for Sheinbaum.
The new president has followed the lead of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador in giving the armed forces extraordinary powers in law enforcement, state-run companies, airports, trains and construction projects.
It is not the first time Mexican forces have opened fire on vehicles carrying migrants in the area, which is also the object of cartel turf battles.
In 2021, the quasi-military National Guard opened fire on a pickup truck carrying migrants, killing one and wounding four. The Guard officers initially claimed some of those in the migrants’ truck were armed and had fired shots, but the governmental National Human Rights Commission later found that was not true.
And in 2021, state police in Tamaulipas killed 17 migrants and two Mexican citizens. Those officers also initially claimed to have come under fire from the migrants’ vehicles.
They argued they were responding to shots fired and believed they were chasing the vehicles of one of the country’s drug cartels, which frequently participate in migrant smuggling. But that later turned out to be false, and the police in fact burned the victims’ bodies in an attempt to cover up the crime.
Eleven of the policemen were convicted of homicide and sentenced to over 50 years in prison.
2 sisters from Egypt were among those killed in Mexican army shooting
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2 sisters from Egypt were among those killed in Mexican army shooting
- The sisters, and four other migrants from countries including Peru and Honduras, were killed on Tuesday in the southern state of Chiapas
- Prosecutors’ office confirmed the identification of the two sisters and said their father was wounded in the shooting, but survived
Russia says captured another village in Ukraine’s Sumy region
- Russian forces captured the settlement of Novomykolaivka in Sumy
MOSCOW: Russia’s army said Wednesday that its forces had captured another village in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, where Moscow has stepped up its offensive in recent weeks.
The Russian forces captured the settlement of Novomykolaivka in Sumy, Moscow’s defense ministry said on Telegram.
India and Canada restore diplomatic services nearly two years after killing of Sikh separatist
- Ottawa accused New Delhi of alleged involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader two years ago
- New Delhi vehemently denied the allegations and accused Justin Trudeau’s government of harboring extremists
NEW DELHI: India and Canada agreed to restore diplomatic services nearly two years after Ottawa accused New Delhi of alleged involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader, which turned into a row straining relations between the two countries.
The announcement was made after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, met Tuesday on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Kananaskis, Alberta.
“The leaders agreed to designate new high commissioners, with a view to returning to regular services to citizens and businesses in both countries,” a statement from Carney’s office said.
High commissioners are senior diplomats, representing their country’s interests and fostering relationships with the host nation.
Modi and Carney reiterated the importance of a bilateral relationship based on mutual respect and a commitment to the principle of territorial sovereignty, according to the statement. They also discussed further collaboration in several sectors, including technology, digital transition, food security, and critical minerals.
Meanwhile, India’s foreign ministry underscored the importance of restarting senior ministerial engagements to “rebuild trust and bring momentum to the relationship.”
Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, shocked the world in September 2023 after announcing in Parliament there were credible allegations about India’s link to the killing of Hareep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver. New Delhi vehemently denied the allegations and accused Trudeau’s government of harboring extremists.
The Indian government had declared Nijjar a terrorist in 2020 under a law meant to suppress dissent. The Sikh independence advocate was a prominent member of the Khalistan movement, banned in India, to create an independent Sikh homeland. He was seen as a human rights activist by Sikh organizations.
Ties between the two countries continued to worsen and in October, India expelled Canadian diplomats and withdrew its high commissioner and other officials from Canada. Ottawa retaliated by dismissing Indian diplomats and accusing the Indian government of an intensifying campaign against Canadian citizens, a charge New Delhi denied.
India’s anxieties about Sikh separatist groups have long strained its relationship with Canada, where some two percent of the population is Sikh.
Modi calls Trump
As Trump abruptly left the G7 summit, Modi had a detailed phone conversation with the US president and shared India’s military response against Pakistan last month following the killings of 26 innocent people, mostly Hindu men, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said.
In recent weeks, Trump had claimed to have brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan and offered trade concessions in part to make the nuclear-armed rivals reach an agreement after shooting at each other for days, which was checkmate by New Delhi. Trump had also proposed mediation over Kashmir.
In a statement, Misri said Modi clarified to Trump that India had never in the past accepted nor would it encourage in the future a third-party mediation over the simmering dispute of Kashmir, a Himalayan region claimed by both India and Pakistan in its entirety.
Misri said Modi made it clear to Trump that during multiple talks held between New Delhi and Washington senior officials amid the ongoing military conflict, there was no mention of a trade deal or the US mediation over Kashmir.
The talks to stop military actions were held directly between the military leaders of India and Pakistan through existing channels, Misri said.
Beijing says almost 800 Chinese citizens evacuated from Iran
- 791 Chinese nationals have been relocated from Iran to safe areas
BEIJING: Almost 800 Chinese citizens have been evacuated from Iran since Israel launched military strikes against the country last week, Beijing said Wednesday.
“Currently... 791 Chinese nationals have been relocated from Iran to safe areas,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular news conference.
“More than 1,000 other people are in the process of relocating and withdrawing,” Guo added.
And some Chinese nationals have also safely evacuated from Israel, he said.
“China expresses its thanks to the relevant countries for providing full support and assistance,” Guo said.
Meawnhile, the Japanese government has started making arrangements to send a military plane to Djibouti as part of its effort to help Japanese nationals in Iran and Israel evacuate, commercial broadcaster Fuji Television Network said on Wednesday.
Iran said early Wednesday it fired hypersonic missiles at Israel in the latest round of overnight strikes between the archfoes, hours after Donald Trump demanded the Islamic republic’s “unconditional surrender.”
The US president insists Washington has played no part in ally Israel’s bombing campaign, but also warned Iran his patience is wearing thin as the conflict enters a sixth day.
World powers have pushed to find an off-ramp, hoping to prevent the conflict from spiralling into a region-engulfing war.
Volcanic eruption in Indonesia forces evacuations and flight cancelations
- Several eruptions sent ash up to 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) into the sky Tuesday evening to Wednesday afternoon
LEMBATA, Indonesia: Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted with giant ash and smoke plumes again Wednesday after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali.
Several eruptions sent ash up to 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) into the sky Tuesday evening to Wednesday afternoon. An eruption Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10,000 meters (about 32,800 feet) into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150 kilometers (nearly 93 miles) away.
The eruption alert was raised Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) from the crater.
Officers also evacuated from the Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki monitoring post 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from the crater to avoid falling gravel released in the eruption. No casualties have been reported.
Ash and debris fell in a number of places outside the danger zone, including the villages of Boru, Hewa and Watobuku. Some residents from Nurabelen village in Ile Bura subdistrict fled to evacuation sites in Konga to avoid the impact of the eruption, the National Disaster Management Agency said in a statement.
“Some residents have also evacuated to Nileknoheng village, which is 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) from the crater,” said Abdul Muhari, the National Disaster Management Agency’s spokesperson.
Dozens of flights Wednesday were canceled, including those connecting Bali to cities in Australia, Malaysia, India and China, according to the website of Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. Volcanic ash can pose a risk to plane engines.
Flights also were canceled to and from the international airport in Labuan Bajo another tourist destination in Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara province. The airport is still operating.
The cancelations and delays affected thousands of travelers. Australian carrier Jetstar, which flies daily between the tourist hotspot and several Australian cities, said the ash cloud was forecast to clear by late Wednesday and its services would be rescheduled.
Air New Zealand canceled one return trip to Auckland and would rebook customers on the next available service, the airline said in a statement Wednesday. Flights to New Delhi, Singapore and Pudong, China, were also canceled due to the volcano, according to information on the website for Denpasar airport in Bali.
The 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki is a twin volcano with Mount Lewotobi Perempuan in the district of Flores Timur.
The volcano has had several eruptions, and its danger level and no-go zone have changed several times before being raised again to the highest level Tuesday.
An eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki in November killed nine people and injured dozens. It also erupted in March.
Indonesia is an archipelago of 270 million people with frequent seismic activity. It has 120 active volcanoes and sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
The nine countries that have nuclear weapons or are believed to have them
- Five original nuclear weapons states are United States, Russia, China, France and UK
- Israel, which hasn’t signed the NPT, has never acknowledged having nuclear weapons
Nine countries currently either say they have nuclear weapons or are believed to possess them.
The first to have nuclear arms were the five original nuclear weapons states — the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom.
All five are signatories to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which commits countries that don’t have nuclear arms not to build or obtain them, and those that do to “pursue negotiations in good faith” aimed at nuclear disarmament.
Rivals India and Pakistan, which haven’t signed the NPT, have built up their nuclear arsenals over the years. India was the first to conduct a nuclear test in 1974, followed by another in 1998.
Pakistan followed with its own nuclear tests just a few weeks later.
Israel, which also hasn’t signed the NPT, has never acknowledged having nuclear weapons but is widely believed to have them.
North Korea joined the NPT in 1985 but announced its withdrawal from the treaty in 2003, citing what it called US aggression. Since 2006, it has conducted a string of nuclear tests.
Iran long has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing the bomb now. But it has in recent years been enriching uranium to up to 60 percent purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.
In an annual assessment released this week, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that the nine countries had the following stockpiles of military nuclear warheads as of January:
Russia: 4,309
United States: 3,700
China: 600
France: 290
United Kingdom: 225
India: 180
Pakistan: 170
Israel: 90
North Korea: 50
