- 7 were reportedly killed and 15 injured
- NAMA wants answer about fatal shooting
- Deputy Chief of Staff of the ENDF denied the involvement of the defence forces
Towns on West Gondar Zone on border with Sudan are on edge after Ethiopian defence forces (ENDF) shot and killed 7 people and injured 15 others Tuesday, according to multiple sources. The deaths occurred in the towns of Gende Wuha and Kokit, about 20 kms ad 40kms of Metema respectively. Western Gondar zone deputy administrator Adebabay Mulugeta confirmed the incidence, without giving an exact figure of dead or injured. Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of the Gende Wuha this morning to express their anger, some asking the defence forces to leave the area, according to Deutsche Welle Amharic radio. In a statement published on the party’s website, the National Movement of Amhara (NAMA) demanded the government to provide full account what happened.
Adebabay described how the attack began. “A road construction company by the name Sur was moving vehicles and other properties to Armachoho woreda. Residents who were convinced that the Company was responsible for the instability in the region demanded the vehicles should be inspected before leaving the area,” he said. A meeting was held between defence forces, zone administrators and representative of the community to resolve the stand-off and a sudden decision to let vehicles pass before the conclusion of the meeting provoked anger, causing fire exchanges between the army and some residents, he said. Witnesses who talked to DW gave a different account, saying the armed security forces began shooting residents in the streets, killing and injuring innocent people, including a seven-year-old girl. One of the victims was returning from a day’s agricultural work, one witness was quoted as saying.
Deputy Chief of Staff of the National Defense Force, General Birhanu Jula denied the involvement of the defence forces in the killing, rather pointing finger at the armed groups in the area for opening fire on defence force members who were escorting the heavy vehicles. “The Defences forces first fired into the air, when the attack persisted, they acted in self-defence. The civilians might have been killed by bullets coming from the armed groups.” He said the incident would be investigated, in an interview with VOA Amharic.
The wounded people were taken to Metema Referral hospital. At least three people remain in a critical condition.
Head of the Amhara Regional State Communication Affairs Office, Asemahagn Aseres Bantie expressed condolences to the families and said this incident should have been handled differently. He said the incident was being investigated and those responsible would be held accountable.
Yared Hailemariam, the executive director of the Swiss-based Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia, criticized the government’s security response, asking how come the forces in Amhara region reacted with heavy handedness while showing unusual patience in Oromia region when OLF, armed to the teeth, has been terrorising, killing, raping and stealing civilians. Those who carried out the killings and those who ordered should be brought to justice, he wrote on his Facebook page. NAMA also called for a thorough investigation of the case and punishment for any officer found to have acted illegally.
Sur Construction, part of the conglomerate that belongs to the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) has been accused of transporting arms and fuelling ethnic conflict between Kimant and Amhara people.
Of course, this is a signature acts of the groups, out there all around the country fighting to create anarchy, the peoples request shouldn’t be ignored or met by violence.
The SUR Co. already on the list suspected activities should comply with their request, also the defense force 1st duty is to protect the safety of the people!!
The hatemongers, and anarchist infiltration must be suspected anywhere and thorough investigation must be done to deter these vermin!!
The Amhara region, the infallible supporter of the change is the prime target of the enemy of the change!!
The carelessness and heedlessness shown by the Amhara Democratic Party would cost him a lot. Failing to provide rapid reaction and explanation about this incident is aggravating the situation. Still if the perpetuates are not held accountable, the party would lose all the credibility and reputation it gained in the past few months.
Then, you take over laptop tiger
የመከላከያ ሰራዊት በአማራ ላይ የሚያደርሰውን ግድያ በአስቸኳይ ሊያቆም ይገባል!
*****
መከላከያ ሰራዊት የአገርን ዳር ድንበር ከማስጠበቅ ዘሎ በየደረጃው ያሉ የአስተዳደር አካላት ባልጠየቁበትና አገራዊ ሰላምን የሚያናጋ አንዳችም ነገር ባልተፈጠረበት ሁኔታ በተደጋጋሚ ጊዜ በአማራ ሕዝብ ላይ በሚወስደው ሕገወጥና ጅምላ ጭፍጨፋና ግድያ ተቋሙ ላይ ዜጎች እምነት እንዲያጡ ሲያደርግ ቆይቷል።
የአማራ ሕዝብ የዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል የፈፀመውን የሕወኃት አፋኝ ሥርዓት ገርስሶ አንፃራዊ የለውጥ ነፋስ እንዲመጣ ከፍተኛ መስዕዋትነትን ከፍሏል። ኢህአዴግን ከሕወኃታዊ አፋኝ መዋቅር ነፃ ለማውጣት ባደረገው ከፍተኛ ተጋድሎ መከላከያን ጨምሮ በሕወኃት ሳንባ ከሚተነፍሰው የፀጥታና ደኅንነት መዋቅር ጋር አንገት ለአንገት ተናንቋል። ያን ሁሉ ታሪካዊ ተጋድሎ ያደረገው ግን ዛሬም ራሳቸውን የለውጥ ኃይሎች ብለው በሚያሞካሹ አካላት እዝ ሥር ባለ የመከላከያ መዋቅር በአደባባይ በጥይት ለመገደል አልነበረም።
የአገር ዳር ድንበር ተጥሶ የኢትዮጵያ ሉዓላዊ ግዛት በሕወኃት ጋሻ ጃግሬ በሆነው የሱዳን ጦር ሲደፈር በዝምታ የተመለከተው መከላከያ የአማራ ሕዝብን ውስጣዊ አንድነትና ሰላም ለማናጋት የግጭት ነጋዴ የሆነን የአሸባሪው ሕወኃት ድርጅት ላይ ሕዝብ በመረጃና ተጨባጭ ማስረጃ ጭምር ያቀረበውን የይፈተሽልን ሰላማዊ ጥያቄ ንፁኃን አማራዎችን በጥይት ደብድቦ የፈፀመው ግድያ የፌዴራሉ መንግስት በተለይም የመከላከያ ሰራዊቱ ዛሬም ድረስ በአማራ ጥላቻ ስካር ላይ መሆኑን ያረጋገጠ ድርጊት ነው። በተለይ ደግሞ የራሱን ተሽከርካሪዎችና የመከላከያ ማሽነሪዎችን እንዳያንቀሳቅስ እገታ ሲፈፀምበት በዝምታ ያሳለፈ ተቋም መሆኑን ስንገዘብ የመከላከያ መዋቅሩ አማራ ላይ ያደረገው አሳፋሪ ተግባርን በከፍተኛ ጥርጣሬ እንድናየው ያስገድደናል።
ስለሆነም የአማራ ብሔራዊ ንቅናቄ(አብን)፦
1) የጦር ኃይሎች ጠቅላይ አዛዥ፣ የመከላከያ ሚኒስትሯና ኢታማዦር ሹሙ በተፈጠረው ጉዳይ ላይ ግልፅ ማብራሪያ እንዲሰጡን እንጠይቃለን።
2) የመከላከያ ሰራዊት በንፁኃን አማራዎች ላይ ግድያ እንዲፈፀም ትዕዛዝ የሰጡ አመራሮችና ወንጀሉን የፈፀሙ የሰራዊቱ አባላት በሕግ እንዲጠየቁ ይጠይቃል። በንፁኃን ዜጎች ላይ ለደረሰው ግድያም መንግስት ይቅርታ እንዲጠይቅና ለተጎጂ ቤተሰቦችም ካሳ እንዲከፍል እንጠይቃለን።
3) የመከላከያ ሰራዊት የክልሉ መንግስት ባልጠየቀበት ሁኔታ በተራ የደንብ ማስከበር ሥራ ከመሰማራት ተቆጥቦ ወደ ካምፑ እንዲሰባሰብና ሰላማዊ ሕዝብን ከማሸበር ድርጊቱም እንዲቆጠብ እንጠይቃለን።
4) የክልሉ መንግስት በተለይም የአማራ የፀጥታ ኃይሎች በሰላማዊ ሕዝባችን ላይ ከማናቸውም አካል የሚቃጣን ጥቃት እንዲከላከሉ እንጠይቃለን።
5) መላው አማራ ከተጎጂ ወገኖች ጋር እንዲሆንና ከመቼውም በላይ አንድነቱን እንዲያፀና፤ ራሱን የመከላከል ተፈጥሯዊ መብቱንም እንዲያስከብር እንጠይቃለን።
በመጨረሻም ለሰማዕት ቤተሰቦችና ለመላው አማራ ሕዝብ መጽናናትን እንመኛለን።
የአማራ ብሔራዊ ንቅናቄ
ጥር 01/2011 ዓ/ም
አዲስ አበባ፥ ሸዋ፣ ኢትዮጵያ
It is really disgusting to see how the extremist Nama is exploting this tragedy to push its political agenda and to deepen its poltical inroads.Using this tragedy to eclipse the ruling party of the region and try to become the driving force in the region could only backclash.
the general said two different things at VOA, the army didn’t do any thing and the armed group fire back at the army. What that means should be investigated
Two Metemas.
One on Ethiopia and Sudan border
Second one in the River Nile province of Northern Sudan, called Al-Metema. On a trade route between Meroe and Napata. A principal suburb of Shendi town which is located 150 kms north of Khartoum. Shendi, the central city of the Ja’alin tribe of President Omar Al-bashir.
When did the Ethiopian Metema became Ethiopian property? Is it not possible the theory that imperial Britain gave Metema to the pseudo Monarch Haile Sellasie?
or is it like the village town of Pasonda, where I entered Sudan as a refugee, located on Ethio-Sudan border, south of Metema. A town you can’t avoid being bitten by mosquitoes on your arrival, Pasonda is a shared town between Sudanese and Ethiopians, most of the population and entreprises being Sudanese on Sudanese side of the border.