(July 19, (Daily Mail))--Four people have died of gunshot wounds in the southern Ethiopian city of Hawassa, where protesters have been demanding the establishment of a breakaway state, a hospital executive said Friday.
Security forces carried out arrests as violence spread to districts outside the regional capital on a second day of protests, state media reported. The Sidama, the largest ethnic group in the southern region, have been agitating for their own semi-autonomous state, posing the latest political challenge to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Expectations had been high that they would unilaterally declare their own region on Thursday. Ethiopia is already partitioned into nine semi-autonomous regions. The constitution requires the government to organise a referendum for any ethnic group that wants to form a new entity within a year of them requesting it.
The SLM, which has been leading calls for the new state, accepted government demands for a delay pending a plebiscite before the end of the year. But other parties were unhappy and protests erupted Thursday.
Sidama activists have accused the security forces of opening fire on protesters who set tyres alight and lobbed stones on Thursday. "There are four people dead, three men and one woman," said Zinaw Serniso, general manager of the Hawassa Referral Hospital.
One of the victims had been shot in the head while another was shot in the stomach. Three of the victims died on Thursday, while the fourth, a woman, was admitted and died on Friday from injuries believed to have been sustained the previous day. Regional police commissioner Tewodros Woldemichael told state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate that police were arresting people who had participated in violence. Read more from Daily Mail »
Security forces carried out arrests as violence spread to districts outside the regional capital on a second day of protests, state media reported. The Sidama, the largest ethnic group in the southern region, have been agitating for their own semi-autonomous state, posing the latest political challenge to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Expectations had been high that they would unilaterally declare their own region on Thursday. Ethiopia is already partitioned into nine semi-autonomous regions. The constitution requires the government to organise a referendum for any ethnic group that wants to form a new entity within a year of them requesting it.
The SLM, which has been leading calls for the new state, accepted government demands for a delay pending a plebiscite before the end of the year. But other parties were unhappy and protests erupted Thursday.
Sidama activists have accused the security forces of opening fire on protesters who set tyres alight and lobbed stones on Thursday. "There are four people dead, three men and one woman," said Zinaw Serniso, general manager of the Hawassa Referral Hospital.
One of the victims had been shot in the head while another was shot in the stomach. Three of the victims died on Thursday, while the fourth, a woman, was admitted and died on Friday from injuries believed to have been sustained the previous day. Regional police commissioner Tewodros Woldemichael told state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate that police were arresting people who had participated in violence. Read more from Daily Mail »
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