BAIDOA, Somalia Apr 30 (Garowe Online) - Ethiopian armed forces deployed in Somalia indiscriminately opened gunfire on unarmed civilians Wednesday in the middle of Baidoa, an inland city 250km northwest of the capital Mogadishu, witnesses reported.

At least 12 civilians were reported dead after the Ethiopian soldiers opened gunfire in panic, following a deadly roadside bomb that targeted a truck transporting water to a nearby Ethiopian army base.

Ethiopian army

Eyewitnesses confirmed to Garowe Online that they saw the dead bodies of three Ethiopian soldiers lying on the ground after the explosion.

Medical contacts at Baidoa general hospital could not give an exact number of wounded people admitted today, but indicated that more injured civilians were being brought in.

Baidoa locals said tens of civilians, including students, were attending to their daily livelihoods at the center of town when the deadly explosion and subsequent gunfire suddenly erupted.

No group has claimed responsibility for the roadside bomb, but Baidoa police officials linked the attack to Islamist-led insurgents waging war on Somalia’s interim government and Ethiopian military backers.

An Ethiopian army officer in Mogadishu privately told the AFP news agency that Ethiopian soldiers did not shoot the civilians.

“Seventeen civilians were killed by the blast that was very heavy. We lost one of our soldiers,” the anonymous army commander claimed, according to the AFP report.

Late Monday in Baidoa, six people – four Ethiopian soldiers and two civilians – were killed when a landmine hit an army convoy. Witnesses reported that Ethiopian soldiers shot to death one of the dead civilians.

Islamist rebels have waged a guerrilla war since early 2007 when Ethiopian-backed Somali troops ousted Islamic Courts rulers from Mogadishu.

The Horn of Africa country is undergoing a humanitarian crisis fuelled by armed conflict, an ongoing drought and an economy on the verge of collapse.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has issued a dire statement warning about the worsening humanitarian situation in Somalia. [ Full story]

Source: Garowe Online