From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue Aug 19 2008 - 09:28:39 EDT
Ethiopia Denies Responsibility for Attack on Somali Minibus
By Jason McLure
Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia denied responsibility for an attack on two
civilian minibuses in southern Somalia on Aug. 15 in which at least 40
people died.
Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry said Islamist fighters from the al-Shabaab
militia are to blame for the deaths, according to a statement published on
its Web site today. A remote-controlled device planted by the rebels
exploded underneath one of the minibuses and killed 11 passengers.
``Soldiers of Somalia's transitional government and Ethiopia then took a
joint countermeasure on the al-Shabaab militants responsible for the bombing
and killed five terrorists,'' it said. ``In the shootout, five civilians
were killed. It was the al-Shabaab bombing of the bus that caused the deaths
of passengers, not fire from Ethiopian soldiers.''
A local doctor and eyewitnesses said on Aug. 16 the minibus passengers died
after Ethiopian soldiers opened fire on the vehicles. The attack occurred in
Arbiska, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the capital, Mogadishu.
U.S.-backed Ethiopian soldiers invaded Somalia in December 2006, ousting an
Islamist regime that briefly controlled southern and central parts of the
country. Ethiopian forces and militias loyal to Somalia's United
Nations-supported transitional federal government have since battled an
insurgency by Islamist and clan-based militias.
Groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have accused
all sides of the conflict in Somalia of wide scale human rights violations.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via
Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: August 19, 2008 04:38 EDT
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