MEXICO CITY — An army general and soldiers under his command sent to fight drug cartels in a border town have been charged in military court with carrying out killings, torture, drug dealing and other crimes, government officials confirmed this week.

The case, stemming from events in 2008 and 2009, appears to be one of the most serious reports of human rights abuse to surface publicly since Mexico began its fight against warring drug gangs in 2006, an effort that has led to 47,500 deaths, according to government data.

Human rights groups have tallied thousands of complaints of unexplained killings, disappearances, torture and physical abuse at the hands of federal forces, particularly the army and increasingly the marines, but the circumstances of this case, first reported this week by the newspaper Reforma, stood out.

The general, Manuel de Jesús Moreno Aviña, and his subordinates have been charged with systematically ordering the killings of at least seven civilians in Chihuahua State, according to Reforma, which cited statements in the investigation and an interview with a military prosecutor.