Soldiers allegedly shot and killed five unarmed youths who were on their way home in an open truck in a Mexican border town, a local human rights organization said Monday, demanding that authorities investigate the case fully as soon as possible.

The deadly episode unfolded yesterday Sunday in the city of Nuevo Laredo, near the US border, the Human Rights Commission of Nuevo Laredo clarified. In a separate statement, she said she filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office on behalf of the victims and their relatives.

A sixth victim in the vehicle was taken to a hospital, where he is being treated for gunshot wounds.

Mexico’s defense ministry did not immediately respond when Reuters tried to reach a spokesman for comment on the complaint.

The mayor of Nuevo Leon, Carmen Lilia Canturosas, said yesterday that the armed forces, the judiciary and the national human rights commission are investigating the case and gathering evidence.

There were no minors among the victims, she clarified.

The episode was recorded in an area swept by organized crime gang violence.

It comes as Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, his party and allies in Congress give more powers to the armed forces to enforce order. In 2022, the Mexican Congress extended until at least 2028 the involvement of the military in operations inside the country.

According to the NGO, relatives of the victims and a journalist who rushed to the scene were violently treated by soldiers.

“The Mexican army is out of control,” said Raimundo Ramos, head of the Human Rights Commission of Nuevo Laredo. “Prosecutors need to find out what happened and the president needs to stop protecting” the military who commit crimes, he added.

In September, Congress gave the military command of the National Guard, a move criticized by NGOs and the UN.

Tyler Mattiache, a researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW) specializing in Mexico, emphasized that the deaths of the five youths highlight that the policy followed in Mexico to reduce crime is moving in the wrong direction.

“The deployment of armed soldiers on the streets brought more violence,” Mr Matiatse explained.

Since 2006, when the so-called “war on drugs” was declared with the involvement of the military, there have been more than 340,000 murders in Mexico, mostly attributed to gangs, while more than 100,000 people have disappeared, according to official figures. .