Mexico City, Jun 24 (EFE).- Mexican soldiers executed 11 of the 22 civilians who died in a June 30, 2014, incident in the central state of Mexico that has become known as the Tlatlaya massacre, La Jornada daily reported, citing reports by state and federal prosecutors.

Obtained via a freedom of information request, the reports indicate that several of the victims were killed by soldiers at point-blank range, with the spent

shell casings found at a distance of roughly 70 centimeters (27 inches) from the bodies.

Eleven of the victims were “practically executed,” while five others died while in “instinctive defensive” postures, according to the findings of the federal Attorney General’s Office, which did not indicate if the other six victims had fired at the soldiers.

The troops fired 160 gunshots, while the civilians only fired 12, three of which wounded army personnel, the forensic studies showed.

Mexico’s defense department initially said that 22 suspected members of a kidnapping gang died in a gunfight with army troops.

But a witness – one of the three survivors of the episode – subsequently told Esquire magazine that only one of the civilians died in the confrontation, while the others were summarily executed after surrendering and undergoing interrogation.

Eight soldiers who participated in the operation were detained on Sept. 25, 2014, three of whom face homicide charges and one a charge of tampering with evidence.

The federal AG’s office said last October that it found that 14 people had died in the firefight and the other eight had been killed after they surrendered.

The independent National Human Rights Commission, however, conducted its own probe and concluded that 15 of the 22 victims had been executed. EFE