NEWS: SIXTEEN PEOPLE, INCLUDING CHILDREN, KILLED IN ETHIOPIA’S AFAR REGION AFTER ARMED ATTACKS, SEVE
Addis Abeba, October 14/2019 – Sixteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded in Ethiopia’s Afar regional state after attacks by armed men in attack last week on Friday and Saturday, Kontie Moussa, (PhD), Afar People’s Party Chairman, told Addis Standard.
The attacks occurred in Afambo wereda, Obno Kebele, near the border with Djibouti in the east and Somali regional state in the south.
According to Dr Kontie, “16 civilians were killed and 35 were wounded, including children and women” by militants during the attack. He blamed Somali Region State’s Special Force as well as plain clothes armed men from Djibouti.
Dr. Konties’s statement about the armed men from Djibouti was corroborated by Hussein Ali, administrator of the Wereda, in an interview with BBC Amharic. Hussein also said that several domestic animals were also killed and properties vandalized.
In addition to Hussein Ali, Afar regional state communication bureau head Ahmed Kaloita also tsaid that the attackers were armed men from Djibouti who were equipped with machine guns.
Colonel Tesfaye Ayalew, Head of the Office of Deputy Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Defense, denied reports of armed men who crossed from Djibouti. “The news circulated over the social media that said to be Djiboutian armed forces have crossed Ethiopian border and inflicted detrimental acts on citizens through Afar is a sham,” he told the Ethiopian News Agency. Read more...
