Mexican soldiers line up cartel members and open fire in leaked security footage

Mexican soldiers have been caught lining up suspected drug cartel members in leaked CCTV footage.

Mexico’s Defense Ministry claimed that the men killed in the horrifying incident were drug traffickers.

The terrifying footage shows a truck spiralling out of control before crashing into a chain link fence at full speed during an incident on May 18.

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Soon after, army military vehicles and soldiers with their rifles drawn can be seen arriving at the scene.

Cartel members are dragged from the vehicle, kicked, handcuffed, and forced into a line up against the fence.

The soldiers then began indiscriminately firing at the men, as reported by Vice.

As emergency services arrive, the footage appears to show the soldiers placing guns beside the men's bodies and removing their handcuffs.

The publication states the military’s report to the Mexican Attorney General’s Office states the soldiers were disarming the men in the truck when more alleged cartel members arrived and began firing on the soldiers.

Going on to claim the men in the truck attempted to recover their weapons, and began firing back.

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They claimed it was only after the shooting ceased that they found that four of the detainees were dead and a fifth was in critical condition before dying at the hospital.

However, the footage appears to show the soldiers firing across the road. It's not clear whether they were fired upon by unseen aggressors.

The publication added that bullets can be seen bouncing off the ground, but it's unclear if they are from the soldiers' own firearms.

But even as the soldiers fire at an unseen enemy, one soldier begins shooting in the direction of the handcuffed men.

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Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the video appeared to show an abuse of power, a practice he blamed on his predecessors.

López Obrador has granted Mexico’s armed forces unprecedented power and has largely put the military in charge of domestic security in the country.

“Apparently there was an execution and that cannot be allowed,” López Obrador said.

“These are isolated cases and when they occur they are punished… It was excessive force, violence, seeking to confront violence with violence. All this has to be banished, because it was introduced in the neo-liberal period.”

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