Kenyan soldier killed in border clash with Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA, Mar 9, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) — On Saturday, 5 March, Kenyan soldiers crossed the Ethiopian border and opened fire on Ethiopian policemen and armed militias. In the ensuing fight one Kenyan soldier was killed while the rest fled in disarray leaving behind a military vehicle, reports from the area note, the Ethiopian weekly newspaper The Reporter said.
Moyale District, southern Ethiopia, police officers told our reporter that on Saturday, 5 March, Kenyan soldiers, for the fourth time, crossed across the Ethiopian border using six military vehicles headed for Deduma, a town 90 kms from Moyale town.
The two policemen and six militias stationed in the area have managed on three previous occasions to stop the Kenyan soldiers who have left the area peacefully. However, on the fourth time, when asked to do the same, they opened fire on the policemen and militias.
The policemen and militias retaliated and killed one Kenyan soldier while the rest fled in disarray leaving behind a military vehicle, the district police officers said.
At present, one black Land Rover, with registration number GKA 216, is at the Moyale police station. The body of the deceased soldier was returned on Monday, 7 March, following a request by Kenyan elders from the border area.
Area residents who had started fleeing following the fighting are now returning since the situation has calmed down.
The Kenyan elders who asked for the deceased body said that it was the mistake of Kenya.
Material provided by the BBC Monitorin Service. Original text in Amharic