Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday he had ordered an investigation into the suspected extrajudicial killing of an alleged gang member after a shootout with the military.

The newspaper El Universal published a video that it said was of a pursuit and armed clash in the northeastern border city of Nuevo Laredo that left a dozen suspected criminals dead.

In the footage, reported to have been filmed on July 3 from a military vehicle, men in uniforms are seen approaching a pick-up truck after intense gunfire has subsided.

A shout of "he's alive!" is heard, followed by "kill him, kill him" and an expletive.

"There was a report of a possible crime committed by a member of the army when he finished off a wounded man," Lopez Obrador told reporters.

"Today I gave instructions to the defense minister to investigate it. We're not going to allow these practices."

Members of the Mexican security forces have been accused on several occasions of torture, human rights violations and extrajudicial killings since a controversial anti-drug operation began in 2006.

Before coming to power in 2018, Lopez Obrador was a vociferous critic of the campaign and vowed to send the military back to the barracks.

But the armed forces have continued in their role of tackling gang-related violence, although Lopez Obrador says he has instructed them to respect human rights.

Six killed as Peru forces clash with drug traffickers
Lima (AFP) Aug 24, 2020 –

Two Peruvian security force members were killed Monday in an armed clash with remnants of the Shining Path guerrilla movement in a key coca-growing region, the government said.

A soldier and police officer were killed along with four guerrillas "during security activities against drug trafficking," in the southern Ayacucho region, Peru's defense and interior ministries said in a joint statement.

The combined military and police unit was patrolling in the valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro rivers — collectively known as the Vraem river valley — when the violence broke out.

The valley is one of Peru's largest coca growing areas and the scene of periodic clashes between the military and drug trafficking gangs.

The statement said the man leading the rebel contingent was also killed.

In March, a Shining Path ambush on a local farming community left two civilians dead.

Peru is one of the world's largest producers of coca leaf and cocaine, along with Bolivia and Colombia.