Ethiopian govt troops kill listeners to BBC news : report

By Ethiopian opposition Radio Freedom audio

ADDIS ABABA, July 1, 2005 — On Wednesday, 29 June, colonial Ethiopian soldiers based in Shilabo town, southeastern Ethiopia, carried out a vicious massacre against civilians listening to the BBC news at a restaurant.

Ethiopian soldiers took positions at the restaurant, where a large number of people had gathered to listen to the news on the BBC, especially the interview the corporation held with freedom fighter Dr Muhammad Sirad Dolal — Ogaden National Liberation Front, ONLF, foreign secretary — and indiscriminately opened fire on the crowd.

Many people were martyred there, and the following are names of some of the dead we have managed to obtain: Hasan-Shugri Yusuf Isma’il, A’iye Adan Dhore, Hure Ali Garjeh, Haradid Abdi Ali, Hasan Faqid, and Rinji Ali Umar.

A large number of people were also wounded in the attack, seven of them seriously.

A woman named Jamilo Adan Dhire and one of the town’s elders named Ina Umar Dhere were among the critically wounded people.

Material provided by the BBC Monitoring Service, original in Somali