SOMALIA: Ethiopian forces targeted Somali civilians
Posted by warvictims on April 24, 2008
Rights group: Ethiopian forces targeted Somali civilians
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Amnesty International has accused Ethiopian troops in the Somali capital of “targeted killing of civilians” during a deadly raid on a mosque.
Somalians prepare the body of a man who was killed in fighting Monday between militants and Ethiopian forces.
A spokesman for Ethiopia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, Wahide Belay, has called Wednesday’s Amnesty report “total rubbish.”
He has accused the rights group of waging a “campaign to demonize” Ethiopia’s armed forces.
Thousands of Ethiopian troops patrol Somalia’s capital, propping up the weak Somali government, which is under siege by militant Islamists.
Insurgents have been waging an increasingly deadly campaign in Mogadishu for more than a year.
The mosque raid on April 19 killed 21 people, according to Amnesty.
But Ethiopia denies entering the mosque, saying its forces fought outside with extremists.
