4 die in Ethiopia jailbreak
2005-10-31 20:51
Addis Ababa - Heavily-armed gunmen killed at least four police officers and prison wardens and wounded six others in a brazen overnight jailbreak and shooting spree in Ethiopia's restive southwest, officials said on Monday.
The officers were killed when the attackers, believed to be from Ethiopia's Anuak tribe, raided a police station in Gambella, about 450km from Addis Ababa, they said.
"Anti-peace forces attacked a police station in Gambella town and killed four members of the police, including the state police commissioner, and wounded six others," said Gambella state security chief Senday Gach.
"Members of the defence forces and the federal police are in hot pursuit of the culprits," he told the official Ethiopian News Agency. "The culprits are those forces who incited the last conflict in the state."
Diplomats in the capital said they believed the death toll had been much higher and the gunmen had attacked a Catholic church before hitting the police station and then a prison where they freed an unknown number of inmates.
Details about incident sketchy
They "were well-armed and well-organised" and "shot around 20 people dead", one diplomat said, adding that details of the incident were still sketchy due to the remoteness of the region which has been the site of previous violence.
The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said three police officers had been killed outside the church at the start of the rampage around 01:00 on Monday morning.
Tensions in Gambella between the indigenous Anuak population and federal as well as regional authorities have been festering since late 2003 when the army launched a bloody crackdown on the tribe after the massacre of some 400 civilians.
Human rights groups have said the crackdown, which targeted armed Anuak groups responsible for attacks in the region, spilled out of control when the army started beating men, raping women and looting property.
The Ethiopian army angrily rejected the accusations.