MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Mexico's President has called on Egypt to conduct an "exhaustive" investigation after at least two Mexican tourists were mistakenly killed by Egyptian security forces chasing militants.

The Foreign Ministry said the Mexican Ambassador to Egypt had visited five other nationals being treated at the Dar-el-Fouad Hospital in a western Cairo suburb, where they were listed as being in stable condition.

Egypt's Interior Ministry said security forces had killed 12 people and wounded 10 others, including Mexicans and Egyptians, who were traveling in four pick-up trucks in the Western Desert. It did not indicate how many Mexicans were hit.

"Mexico condemns these incidents against our citizens and has demanded an exhaustive investigation about what happened from the government of Egypt," President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Twitter.

He said he had ordered the Foreign Ministry to deploy more diplomats to Egypt to assist the victims and their families.

"For the moment, we regrettably confirm the death of two Mexican nationals in this incident," Mexico's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it was working on identifying them.

The Foreign Ministry gave few details about what happened, describing it only as a "grave incident" in which an "undetermined" number of Mexican tourists were attacked.