http://www.dailystar.com.lb//News/World/2016/Aug-06/365941-ethiopias-security-forces-use-tear-gas-to-disperse-protests-witness.ashx
World
Aug. 06, 2016 | 06:42 PM
Ethiopia's security forces use tear gas to disperse protests: witness
Protesters chant slogans during a demonstration over what they say is
unfair distribution of wealth in the country at Meskel Square in
Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, August 6, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri
Reuters
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian security forces used tear gas and blocked roads
in the capital Addis Ababa and other major towns on Saturday to try to
quell protests against alleged rights abuses, a Reuters witness and
residents said.
The Horn of Africa country's Oromiya region has seen months of
demonstrations over plans to incorporate some of its territory into
the capital as part of an expansion scheme.
The plans were scrapped after intense resistance from residents, but
protesters are continuing to demonstrate against alleged abuses and
for the release of people arrested during the campaign.
In Addis Ababa hundreds of people holding placards gathered at Meskel
Square in the centre of the city before police dispersed them, a
Reuters witness said.
Protests also took place in the towns of Ambo and Woliso in Oromiya,
where large crowds gathered early on Saturday before soldiers
blockaded roads and began to shoot in the air, witnesses said.
"We have rights but they are consistently violated by this
government," one protester told Reuters by phone from Ambo.
"They jail everyone who opposes them. All prisoners should be released."
A witness told Reuters that one demonstrator was shot in Ambo as
police tried to quell the unrest.
A student at Ambo University said hundreds of people marched to the
town's centre waving opposition flags and chanting anti-government
slogans, before police and soldiers dispersed the crowd by firing in
the air and using tear gas.
In a statement Ethiopia's information ministry said the country would
not tolerate "forces that threaten the country's hard-earned peace and
development gains" and added that the government stood ready "to
discharge its responsibility."
A 25-year development plan by the Ethiopian government, aimed at
attracting investment to help industrialise its agrarian economy,
first sparked small protests in 2014.
But when it emerged in mid-November last year that land was to be
leased near Ginchi, a town in Oromiya, bigger protests erupted.
On Saturday many residents in Addis Ababa and other towns also
reported being unable to use the internet although it was unclear if
authorities had blocked online access.
On Friday two protesters died in clashes with police in the ancient
city of Gonder as anger mounted over the status of a disputed stretch
of land.
Received on Sat Aug 06 2016 - 12:11:24 EDT