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US border patrol kills Mexican teen

09 June 2010 04:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Mexico has strongly condemned the US Border Patrol’s "disproportionate" use of force and demands a full investigation after a border officer shot dead a Mexican teen, APA reports quoting the official site of Press TV.

"We energetically condemn the death of a minor near the international border crossing in Ciudad Juarez," the Mexican foreign ministry said in a statement.

Eyewitnesses say the 14-year-old boy was just hanging around with friends when an unidentified US guard shot him twice.

The FBI, however, says the boy was killed after a border patrol officer opened fire from the El Paso, Texas, side of the border on a group who "threw stones" while apparently trying to enter the United States.

His mother denied reports he had been trying to cross the border.

"The use of firearms to repel attacks with stones represents a disproportionate use of force," the ministry said in a statement.

The Mexican foreign ministry also demanded that Washington review its border security policy.

The shooting has added to the tension between Mexico and the US over illegal immigration.