• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > World

Four Killed As Protests Spread in Southern Ethiopian City

  • An armed security officer roams on an empty street during a clash between a Sidama youth and securities after they declared their own region in Hawassa, Ethiopia July 18, 2019.

    An armed security officer roams on an empty street during a clash between a Sidama youth and securities after they declared their own region in Hawassa, Ethiopia July 18, 2019. | Photo: Reuters

Published 19 July 2019
Opinion

Some of the injured Sidama had fractured bones after being hit by security forces' batons while and others had been shot, local hospital officials said.

Four protesters have died of gunshot wounds they suffered in clashes with Ethiopian security forces this week while demonstrating for a new, autonomous region for the Sidama ethnic group that wants a political base in the southern city of Hawassa. 

RELATED:
Ethiopian Security Kills Coup Mastermind, Others Arrested

The threat of large-scale violence in Hawassa was largely averted after a Sidama opposition party agreed Thursday to delay declaring possession over the southern region and accept a government offer to hold a referendum regarding the demand in five months.

Not all Sidama people accepted the delay. Most shops and factories, including the Hawassa's industrial park, remained closed in protest Friday, while protesters continued to take to the streets, though in fewer numbers, residents told Reuters.  

Hawassa Referral Hospital said it had admitted 18 injured civilians since Wednesday, four of whom subsequently died of bullet wounds, one of whom was shot in the head, according to its general manager Zinaw Serniso.

The Sidama decision to unilaterally declare a new region posed a direct challenge to the authority of the federal government in Addis Ababa that oversees nine regions in the Horn of Africa country of 105 million people.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, appointed by the ruling coalition last year, has carried out several progressive political reforms in what was once one of the continent's most repressive nations.

But many Ethiopian activists demand more rights, sometimes for their own ethnic groups. At least eight other groups beside the Sidama also want their own regions. 

"The decision by top Sidama administrators to accept a belated referendum meant the zone didn't self-declare and so a major confrontation was avoided yesterday," said William Davison, an analyst from Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

"But that decision was not accepted by all of the youthful activists, who complained they were not consulted and were further angered when security forces prevented public meetings being held to discuss the situation," added Davison.

Local police told Fana Broadcasting that relative peace prevailed in Hawassa by Friday.

Police had arrested people involved in violence that resulted in loss of life and properties, according to Fana.

Organized groups in towns outside Hawassa are ransacking houses, business and also robbing people, said Million Tumato, president of the opposition Sidama Liberation Movement.

He said earlier on Friday three civilians had been killed in Hawassa and 15 others in outlying areas. Reuters could not confirm the deaths or the circumstances surrounding them.

"At this moment, we cannot calm our people," he said.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.