MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s military has opened an investigation into the possible killing of a civilian by soldiers in northern Mexico, the defense minister said on Wednesday, after a video surfaced of the incident following an army shootout with suspected cartel gunmen.
The footage, published by newspaper El Universal last week, appears to have been taken by a camera fixed atop the helmet of a soldier who opens fire from an army truck. It shows soldiers encircling an apparent survivor of the shootout as an unidentified man yells, “Kill him!”
El Universal said the video, filmed last month in the violent northern city of Nuevo Laredo on the U.S. border, shows the aftermath of incident in which state security officials reported 12 alleged drug cartel members were killed.
Reuters has not been able to verify the contents of the video. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has called for a full investigation, saying his government would “not allow this practice” of what appeared to be the killing a suspect.
Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval said about two dozen army personnel would be investigated in the probe that the military attorney general’s office opened the day of the incident, working with its federal counterparts.
The investigation will focus on the video as part of the effort to “fully identify what the situation was, and if (the people involved) committed excesses,” Cresencio said at the president’s daily news conference.
The United Nations, which has previously criticized Mexico over issues concerning the military, called earlier this week for an investigation into the possible misuse of deadly force.
(Reporting by Raul Cortes and Lizbeth Diaz, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Tom Brown)
