They indiscriminately shot innocent civilians who were fleeing the fighting

[N.O.R.F]

Shame on you for supporting/excusing/being neutral to this. Shame,,,,,

 

Thousands flee Mogadishu as fighting claims 59

(AFP)

 

11 November 2007

 

 

MOGADISHU - The toll from some of the worst fighting in Somalia’s war-wracked capital climbed to 59 on Saturday, as thousands fled the city fearing more clashes between Ethiopian forces and rebels, witnesses said.

 

 

The continuing violence came as the UN secretary general’s special representative to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, held talks with Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed in Nairobi over the crisis.

 

Sixteen bodies, including one of a Ethiopian soldier, were recovered on Saturday in and around Mogadishu’s Black Sea district, where rival sides have pounded each other with artillery fire since Thursday, witnesses said.

 

According to figures compiled by AFP, the latest fighting has claimed 59 lives.

 

“It was a very gruesome scene. They indiscriminately shot innocent civilians who were fleeing the fighting,” said local elder Ali Muse Mohamed, referring to the Ethiopian soldiers.

 

Residents recovered bullet-riven bodies, ripped limps and shattered skulls on the blood-streaked streets and in bombed-out houses. They said women and children were also targeted by the Ethiopian troops battling Islamist rebels.

 

“They shot any moving creature around the neighbourhood ... They also killed children,” lamented Hassan Sugule, another elder.

 

“The Ethiopians are killing even the women let alone the men, so we have no option of staying. We are looking for safety,” said Ali Mohamed Barqad, adding that his neighbourhood was deserted.

 

A tense calm prevailed in the battered city Saturday, but rival sides dug into their positions girding up for fresh combat.

 

Meanwhile, thousands of residents fled Mogadishu, many on foot and others aboard trucks and on donkey, heading for the calmer outskirts already choked by hundreds of thousands who left their homes earlier, witnesses said.

 

The talks between Ould-Abdallah and Yusuf came a day after the UN envoy met with Ali Mahdi Mohammed, who chairs a Somali government-backed reconciliation panel.

 

The outcome of both sets of discussions remained unclear, although they centred on stability and the appointment of a prime minister to replace Ali Mohamed Gedi, who resigned last month.

 

The Ethiopian army came to the rescue of the feeble Somali government last year to help it oust an Islamist militia that briefly controlled large parts of the country and sought to impose Islamic law.

 

The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) was defeated earlier this year, but its remnants and allied militants have since waged a guerrilla war aiming to destroy all pro-government targets.

 

Two weeks of clashes in Mogadishu had already displaced at least 90,000 people, according to the United Nations, worsening the humanitarian crisis that has blighted the nation for 16 years.

 

On Saturday, panic reigned supreme in the city.

 

“We are unable to flee to far areas because we do not have enough money,” said Nur Adan Mohamed, loading stuff onto a cart.

 

“Some of my family members are still trapped in Suqaholaha (neighbourhood),” said Muhubo Shilis, a mother of five who only managed to escape with three of her children.

 

“We ask Allah to have mercy on us because nobody cares about our predicament,” she added.

 

Intense fighting erupted Thursday, killing several people, and frenzied civilians dragged the body of an Ethiopian soldier on the streets.

 

An attempt by Ethiopian troops to recover the body worsened clashes that continued into Friday, leaving a trail of fatalities and destruction of property.

 

The Ethiopian army crackdown in Mogadishu has blown the lid off decades of complex ethnic, social and political hatred between the two nations which have fought two wars in recent years.

 

The New York-based Human Rights Watch meanwhile accused both sides of sweeping violations.

 

The world “should condemn these attacks and hold combatants accountable for violations of humanitarian law, including mutilating captured combatants and executing detainees,” said Peter Takirambudde, the group’s director for Africa.

 

In his quarterly report on Somalia, released Thursday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said deploying UN troops was not a “realistic and viable option” and instead suggested sending a “coalition of the willing”.

AFP

[Kashafa]

Dhabodhilifs have no shame. Waa the metaphorical "wax la nacay". ie, so far gone in their hate, their cuqdad, their political prostitution that they are beyond repair and redemption. Any shred of humanity and conscience is buried beneath a thick layer of Qabil.

 

Al-Ximaaru laa yamshee ilaa bil'casaa: The only language they understand is that of pain, and pain is what they will receive.

 

Watch and wait. Dheesha waa galin dambi.

 

“It was a very gruesome scene. They indiscriminately shot innocent civilians who were fleeing the fighting,” said local elder Ali Muse Mohamed, referring to the Ethiopian soldiers.

 

Residents recovered bullet-riven bodies, ripped limps and shattered skulls on the blood-streaked streets and in bombed-out houses. They said women and children were also targeted by the Ethiopian troops battling Islamist rebels.

 

“They shot any moving creature around the neighbourhood ... They also killed children,” lamented Hassan Sugule, another elder.

 

“The Ethiopians are killing even the women let alone the men, so we have no option of staying. We are looking for safety,” said Ali Mohamed Barqad, adding that his neighbourhood was deserted.

Meles Zenawi, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and the TFG will be held accountable for all this. There will be a reckoning in this world before the next.

 

If some misguided fools are under the impression that these atrocities will be swept under the carpet under the banner of 'reconciliation' and 'peace and stability' , they got somethin else coming for'em. Sooner or later, the Ethiopians will leave, leaving behind their shoe-carriers to answer for their dhabo-dhilif'nimo.

[Zafir]

Originally posted by Kashafa:

Dhabodhilifs have no shame. Waa the metaphorical "wax la nacay". ie, so far gone in their hate, their cuqdad, their political prostitution that they are beyond repair and redemption. Any shred of humanity and conscience is buried beneath a thick layer of Qabil.

 

Al-Ximaaru laa yamshee ilaa bil'casaa: The only language they understand is that of pain, and pain is what they will receive.

 

Watch and wait. Dheesha waa galin dambi.

 

quote:

---

“It was a very gruesome scene. They indiscriminately shot innocent civilians who were fleeing the fighting,” said local elder Ali Muse Mohamed, referring to the Ethiopian soldiers.

 

Residents recovered bullet-riven bodies, ripped limps and shattered skulls on the blood-streaked streets and in bombed-out houses. They said women and children were also targeted by the Ethiopian troops battling Islamist rebels.

 

“They shot any moving creature around the neighbourhood ... They also killed children,” lamented Hassan Sugule, another elder.

 

“The Ethiopians are killing even the women let alone the men, so we have no option of staying. We are looking for safety,” said Ali Mohamed Barqad, adding that his neighbourhood was deserted.

Meles Zenawi, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and the TFG will be held accountable for all this. There will be a reckoning in this world before the next.

 

If some misguided fools are under the impression that these atrocities will be swept under the carpet under the banner of 'reconciliation' and 'peace and stability' , they got somethin else coming for'em. Sooner or later, the Ethiopians will leave, leaving behind their shoe-carriers to answer for their dhabo-dhilif'nimo.

What are you on about? What game?? The lives of innocent civilians and children is a games, you are no different to the ones you’re denouncing for you are equally a blind follower of another group. Innocent people are dying by the dozen and all you bring forth is your toxic venom of “dabodhilif are so and so”.

 

You, Duke and Odweyne are no different, you all are passionate and religious followers of your own little groups and are ironically unmannerly disrespecting each other for being sightless followers, now where is the just in that? You know what even more ironic, you three princely display the political stance in Somalia right now. And why there will never be Somalia.

 

The term dabodhilif (Though I personally favor the word F.A.Q.A.S.H) entails

1)TGF and its blind supporters

2)ICU and its blind supporters

 

Xiin’s idea of

AL-hanash Wal-Habash, qalee Al-hanash, idlaq AL- habash is not the solution.

 

Yaa Xiin, here is the solution

AL-habash Wal- F.A.Q.A.S.H, qalee AL-habash, idlaq AL- F.A.Q.A.S.H

[Kashafa]

Zafir,

 

Does the reality of dhabo-dhilif ignominy pain you that much ? Does it hurt you for their crimes to be revealed ? Am I striking a raw nerve when I highlight it ?

 

Innocents are dying, you say. No, they're not dying, you sanctimonious pretentious piece of work. They're being murdered. Massacred. Ethnically cleansed. Killed. Made to flee and live under trees. Mercilessly Bombarded. Courtesy of the Dhabo-dhilifs

 

And amidst all that, you have the gall to be politically correct and appear 'neutral' by condemening the ICU ? The Tigray/TFG alliance are committing a systematic campaign of scorched earth policies and instead of finding the moral fiber to take a principled stand(forget principles, howabout borderline humanity ?), you turn this into an oppurtunity to take a swipe against the ICU.

 

Somalis are being slaughtered on the ground and Zafir is worried about the abrasiveness of political discourse. One heckuva basket-case. I don't care what your political convictions are, have the balls to state them outright without resorting to p*ssyfooting and transparent pretentiousness(especially sickening during these times). Man the F up.

 

Dhabo-Dhilif-noun: a Somali word that describes traitors and turncoats who aid, abet, and support the enemy in any way, shape, or form.

 

If that describes you(or your 'loved ones'), don't get mad at me. Get mad at urself.

[Zafir]

Does the reality of dhabo-dhilif ignominy pain you that much ? Does it hurt you for their crimes to be revealed ? Am I striking a raw nerve when I highlight it ?

I truly I have thought you were at the very least more intellectual than that, but hey I have been wrong on several instances before.

 

Innocents are dying, you say. No, they're not dying, you sanctimonious pretentious piece of work. They're being murdered. Massacred. Ethnically cleansed. Killed. Made to flee and live under trees. Mercilessly Bombarded. Courtesy of the Dhabo-dhilifs

 

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the truth is very simple: Courtesy or no, TFG is responsible for these massacres. Who is refuting this fact; it makes me wonder as to why I am even replying to your post.

 

And amidst all that, you have the gall to be politically correct and appear 'neutral' by condemening the ICU ? The Tigray/TFG alliance are committing a systematic campaign of scorched earth policies and instead of finding the moral fiber to take a principled stand(forget principles, howabout borderline humanity ?), you turn this into an oppurtunity to take a swipe against the ICU.

Firstly, this wasn’t about ICU or CJI or NBU clique, but thank you for proving my point. However, the position I was adhering to is one you haven’t considered or perhaps the merits of it you didn’t get, but I for one won’t beat you over the head with it. And what opportunity is there for me to take a swipe of ICU? It does however look like you are threatened by it. Secondly, just because one has principled stance, one is right miyaad maqashey. I hate to be the bearer of bad news to you sire, you are wrong. Thirdly, I don’t want to go to that trendy route that some of you all seem to possess of that I feel more pain then you in Mogashishu bs. Fourthly, Just because a person is “neutral” or disagrees with your views doesn’t the person is pretentious or should be cast into outer darkness so that you can instill distrust and thereby create a need for crass view, does it? Neutral in my case and for many others means, not choosing between evils, but I suppose you really twisted my arm hard enough to choose, I would of the lesser evil of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

Ps: And I do know General <----- way and where I will be.

[Nephissa]

Ha Ha Ha! Faduul baa awalba ku keenay. Sii soco..

[NASSIR]

Human Rights Watch.

 

 

Map showing insurgent attacks only in March and April.

 

 

 

Northerner, You seem to be condoning the insurgents attack on civilians as well. There is no way you can deceive the world that what the insurgents are doing to the Nation is a justifiable action.

[N.O.R.F]

^^Are you serious in thinking that this map somehow shows insurgents attacking civilians? There is a differecnce between where the attacks took place and who the targets were (hard to fathom I know ). Their aim should be better I know.

 

ps would you be so kind as to bring up a map of Ethio/TFG attacks on civilians? If you cant we understand why

 

Ethio/TFG indescriminate shelling of civilian areas

 

Indiscriminate attacks by Ethiopian forces

When the insurgency launched rocket or mortar attacks, the Ethiopians responded with barrages of rockets, artillery, and mortar shelling of areas of Mogadishu perceived to be the areas of origin of the attack or strongholds of the insurgency. Eyewitnesses to the fighting in March repeatedly told Human Rights Watch that the Ethiopian barrages came from Ethiopian bases located in the former Ministry of Defense building, Villa Somalia, the Custodial Corps headquarters, Kabka (a former repairs factory for the Somali military), and, in April, from the Mohamoud Ahmed Ali Secondary School and the former headquarters of the Somali Police Transport (see Map 2). Many of these locations are two or more kilometers from the neighborhoods they were targeting, distances that would require a spotter in the air or on the ground for mortar shelling to be used with any degree of precision.

 

The Ethiopian rockets were inherently unable to target specific military objectives. Residents of Mogadishu described patterns of rocket barrages that match the use of BM-21 multiple barrel rocket launchers. The use of BM-21s by the Ethiopian forces was confirmed not only by eyewitness descriptions of the weapons by name but also by description of the sounds they made when fired.

 

There is strong evidence that the indiscriminate bombardment of populated neighborhoods by Ethiopian forces was intentional. Commanders who knowingly or recklessly order indiscriminate attacks are responsible for war crimes. In Towfiq, Hamar Jadid, and Bar Ubah neighborhoods, eyewitnesses reported that the Ethiopian BM-21 rockets and heavy artillery often landed in systematic patterns, equidistantly, and at regularly spaced time intervals. In Towfiq, for instance, Ethiopian rockets landed 10-20 meters apart, while in Hamar Jadid they were sometimes 40 meters apart.151 One man with a military background told Human Rights Watch, “The Ethiopians would shell on a line—start with one area and move to the next, and the next day they started all over again, the same way.”152 Another man observed, “The shells were coming in a sustained format: each shell fell 40 meters from the other. In some areas, you would find 10 houses next to each other destroyed.”153

 

According to military experts this type of shelling is typical of area shelling where troops move the coordinates from one target to the next, going down a grid pattern. Area bombardment is fundamentally inappropriate as a strategy to target a mobile insurgency in a densely populated civilian setting. It constitutes an indiscriminate attack, which is a serious violation of international humanitarian law. This type of attack on populated neighborhoods is indicative of criminal intent to blanket an entire area rather than hit specific military objects—evidence of a war crime.

 

You want to talk about hospitals and civilian deaths do you?

 

Attacks on Medical Facilities

The Ethiopian military bombardment in March and April hit several hospitals during the course of the fighting in Mogadishu, causing some hospitals to suspend their provision of medical care at a time when this care was desperately needed by hundreds of people. The protection of hospitals and other medical facilities is a bedrock principle of international humanitarian law. The Second Additional Protocol of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions (Protocol II), on the protection of medical units and transports, which is reflective of customary international law, states,

 

1. Medical units and transports shall be respected and protected at all times and shall not be the object of attack.

 

2. The protection to which medical units and transports are entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit hostile acts, outside their humanitarian function. Protection may, however, cease only after a warning has been given setting, whenever appropriate, a reasonable time-limit, and after such warning has remained unheeded.168

 

The SOS, Al-Arafat, and Al-Hayat hospitals were located in critical frontline areas caught up in the conflict. Human Rights Watch research found that Mogadishu’s hospitals were bombarded repeatedly and without warning, with loss of civilian life and significant destruction. While it is not clear to what extent the insurgents fired from the near vicinity of the hospitals, the Ethiopian forces should have had no trouble spotting the often tall (by Mogadishu standards) and highly visible hospital buildings. This failure to spare them from bombardment indicates, at minimum, indiscriminate attacks and, at most, deliberate attacks on the hospitals. 169

 

Shelling and occupation of Al-Arafat Hospital

Ethiopian troops first searched Al-Arafat hospital on January 14, 2007, soon after they arrived in Mogadishu, so its status as a medical facility was known to them. According to eyewitnesses, Ethiopian forces entered the hospital that day at around 5:30 a.m. and conducted a thorough search. Ethiopian soldiers confiscated weapons that were being used by the hospital to protect equipment and patients.170 While international humanitarian law prohibits the use of medical facilities for military purposes, medical personnel may be equipped with light individual weapons.171 A person present said that Ethiopian personnel told hospital staff that day that the hospital was suspected of being a base for the “Courts” and “*** clan” insurgent groups.172

 

Soon thereafter, senior members of the hospital staff visited Ethiopian bases in El-Irfid and Maslah, seeking the return of the confiscated weapons. However, the Ethiopian officials at these bases denied that any confiscation operation had been organized from their base.173

 

Al-Arafat hospital is located along Industrial Road, northeast of the Stadium in Towfiq neighborhood. On March 29, when the first round of heavy fighting started around the stadium (see Chapter VII, “A Case Study in Laws of War Violations”), the hospital was hit at least four times, including by tank shells and BM-21 rockets. The tank shells hit the water tank, the store, and the office of the hospital director.174 When the fighting started there were more than 30 patients at the hospital. A relative of one of the patients was injured by shrapnel. During the following days, as the fighting continued in the area, the patients were released or referred to other hospitals. The hospital staff took the precautionary step of removing some of the key medical equipment, such as the laboratory equipment and medicines, out of the hospital.175

 

During the second round of fighting in late April the hospital was hit again. A total of seven rockets struck the hospital: three rockets hit the outpatient department; another three rockets hit the generators store, putting all three generators beyond use;176 and a seventh rocket struck the hospital kitchen. Staff quarters in the hospital were also damaged by these rockets.177

 

One of the staff who witnessed the events told Human Rights Watch,

 

These were heavy shells. The shells damaged the outpatient department, making a big hole. The three shells that destroyed the electric generators were the first to hit the hospital around April 20-21. The BMs and rockets landed on top of the buildings. The three shells which hit the generators landed simultaneously. They came from the direction of the Custodial Corps [under control of Ethiopian forces]. The shells which landed in the office of the director and the water tank were tank shells. I know this because it was a direct hit. Our staff saw the tank at the Charcoal Market.178

 

Available evidence indicates the attacks on Al-Arafat may have been deliberate. Unlike rockets or artillery, tank guns are primarily direct-fire weapons—the tank crew is expected to aim at the target at which it is firing. One of the tank shells struck squarely on the front face of the building, just below a large sign with the name of the hospital. There is little other shell or rocket damage evident on the front of the building.

 

The actions by Ethiopian officials at the hospital in January raise concerns that the military might have believed the hospital was being used to treat wounded insurgents. This was denied by an eyewitness, who told Human Rights Watch, “[W]e never received any wounded militias.”179 However, even if wounded insurgents had been there, under the laws of war wounded combatants no longer taking part in the hostilities may not be attacked. Others at the hospital—patients, medical personnel, and visitors—are also protected from attack. To deliberately target a hospital is a war crime.180

 

On April 26, at the end of the fighting, the Ethiopians came into the hospital and occupied the facility for three days. They ordered hospital security guards to leave the hospital after disarming the only security guard, who was armed with an AK-47 to protect the facility.

 

When staff from Al-Arafat returned to the facility after the Ethiopians moved out on April 29, the hospital had been completely ransacked. One staffer described the scene to Human Rights Watch: “They have broken all doors, the safe, and put everything out of its place. There were files, letters, and books littered inside the rooms. They have taken some of the text and reference books as well as some medical files…The Ethiopian military left graffiti on the walls. One read, ‘al Qaeda Hospital.’”181 The reference of course suggested that the hospital was being used by terrorists.

 

Shelling and occupation of Al-Hayat Hospital

Al-Hayat hospital is located on the main road from Villa Somalia to the Stadium, close to Ali Kamin junction. Ethiopian bombardments frequently hit this site, particularly in the late March fighting.

 

On March 29, as the Ethiopian military fought their way to the Stadium from Villa Somalia (see Chapter VII, “A Case Study in Laws of War Violations”), an Ethiopian unit entered Al-Hayat hospital, inspected the facility, and left. There were more than 70 patients in the hospital at the time. The Ethiopian commander did not ask or suggest that staff at the hospital evacuate the patients.182

 

The following day, March 30, a rocket apparently launched from a BM-21 landed inside the hospital compound, wounding three people including a doctor and damaging cars and rooms in the hospital. Most of the patients were evacuated or left the facility that day, as did many of the staff. A few staff remained to try to protect the facility.183

 

Two days later, on April 1, Ethiopian troops returned to the hospital and detained the remaining staff. One of the hospital staff who was held at gunpoint and questioned described the events to Human Rights Watch:

 

The soldiers were different from those who had come the other day. The Ethiopians tried to get into the hospital at around 6 a.m. First they tried to break the gate with a bullet. But the door wouldn’t open. Then they kept knocking until I opened for them. A soldier asked me if there were “al Qaeda” [insurgents] in the hospital. I replied “no.” I showed him around the hospital, the medical equipment, beds, etc. He asked about the patients, I told him they fled because of the fighting.184

 

According to eyewitness accounts, approximately 150 Ethiopian soldiers entered the hospital and took up defense positions, putting their guns out of the windows. Al-Hayat staff were detained in the building for the next seven days. They saw Ethiopian troops bringing sandbags and rockets into the hospital to consolidate their defense positions in the three-story building, which they used as a base in the following days.

 

Staff were questioned—“Where is ‘al Qaeda’? Are you with the government or with al Qaeda?”—and were denied permission to leave when they requested it. On April 9, a week after the occupation of the hospital began, the staff were permitted to leave when the ceasefire commission visited Al-Hayat. One of the released staff told Human Rights Watch, “Until the day we left, the hospital and its materials were safe. The money for the hospital staff was secure in the safe; the medical equipment was in order. We were expecting they would leave the hospital intact. We contacted the interior minister and health minister in order to help us get the Ethiopians out.” 185

 

A week later, Al-Hayat staff returned to the hospital with a team of police officers and were shocked by the destruction they found. Heavy looting had taken place. “The computers, the laptops, the money, and the shelves—all destroyed,” said an eyewitness. The Ethiopian army vacated Al-Hayat hospital on May 5, more than a month after first occupying it. According to a statement seen by Human Rights Watch, the hospital staff estimated that the Ethiopian military caused more than US$800,000 worth of damage.186

 

International humanitarian law not only prohibits attacks on hospitals, but also stipulates that they not be harmed in any way or that their functioning be impeded, even if they do not have any patients at the time.187

 

Shelling of SOS Hospital

SOS Hospital, a pediatric and obstetric facility located in Huriwa district, was heavily bombarded by Ethiopian forces in the last days of the conflict in late April. On April 23, 2007, at least five rockets landed in the grounds of the hospital and one rocket hit a ward housing 20 to 30 wounded adults.188

 

Prior to the bombardment on April 23, the hospital building had been hit by stray bullets but they had caused no casualties or damage. According to eyewitnesses, on April 19 several doctors and elders affiliated with the insurgent groups approached the hospital administration and said they wanted to use the SOS facility to treat their wounded. Apparently the insurgency’s existing medical facility near the Pasta Factory was coming under intense shelling.189

 

The doctors and elders representing the insurgents and the hospital management agreed to meet the following day, April 20, but the meeting never took place. On April 21 the doctors and elders returned with more than 20 wounded people, the majority of them young men who were apparently fighters, but also some civilians. They came with their own medications to treat the wounded.

 

Two days later, on the morning of April 23, the hospital was hit four or five times, apparently by BM rockets, with a fixed interval between each rocket strike.190 One round hit the children’s department in the hospital, destroying one room and damaging another. Another round struck the wall of the hospital. Two other rounds landed in a sports field just opposite the hospital. There were no casualties.191

 

The hospital continued to serve wounded civilians and insurgents for two more days, as fighting grew closer. On the night of April 25 all the wounded people in the hospital were moved out of the facility. The following morning at 8 a.m. the Ethiopian military entered the hospital, asked the staff the whereabouts of the wounded people, searched the wards and stores, and left the hospital within half an hour.192

 

Over the next 10 days, Ethiopian military roadblocks and security checks in the area near the hospital restricted medical activity. Ethiopian troops returned and searched the facility again in early May, and then again in early July following clashes in the area, but otherwise left the facility untouched.193

 

Intentional Shootings and Summary Executions of Civilians

Human Rights Watch learned of various incidents in which Ethiopian troops are believed to have intentionally fired upon and killed or wounded plainly identifiable civilians.

 

On March 29, a 45-year-old charcoal porter and another male civilian were shot and wounded, and a woman civilian killed, by an Ethiopian soldier in Towfiq. The charcoal porter had been collecting charcoal in the Charcoal Market in Towfiq when fighting erupted. He told us,

 

I didn’t get a chance to escape, [there was] no place to hide so I stayed near a lorry [truck]. There was also another man and a woman hiding by the lorry. There was an Ethiopian soldier close by, in a defensive position [he motions crouching down with a rifle]. Some shells landed near the soldier and he got angry and fired five bullets at us. The woman died and the two men were hit but survived. The soldier was maybe five meters away, he had been there more than five minutes before he fired on us. I know he was an Ethiopian because of his military uniform and they came in two convoys. He was holding a heavy machine gun. The woman’s name was Noura; she was maybe 50, an older woman. She died on the spot.194

 

Other civilians were shot while trying to flee the area, or when they returned to see if their homes had survived the bombardment and fighting.

 

On April 26, a 35-year-old businessman came back to his home near the Pasta Factory having fled to Afgoi with his family during the fighting. He came back with two other neighbors to check on their property. He recalled what happened on their return:

 

We arrived in Huriwa at around 9:30 a.m. As we were walking towards our house near the Pasta Factory, the Ethiopian soldiers called us. They told us to “come.” They spoke to us in Somali…They began to call us repeatedly. We decided to run away from them. They fired at us as we tried to escape from them. The other two survived but I was hit in the upper arm by a small bullet. It is broken around the elbow. All three of us continued running despite the wound and the bleeding. The Ethiopians chased us momentarily but gave up.195

 

Since the April fighting ended, Human Rights Watch has documented further incidents of killings and summary executions of civilians by members of the Ethiopian military.

 

On June 19, an Ethiopian military convoy was hit by a roadside bomb near Jaalle Siyad College. After the bomb exploded, at approximately 3 p.m., the Ethiopian soldiers dismounted their vehicles and fired upon a civilian minibus at the Industrial Road, killing a passenger.196 Afterwards, the Ethiopian soldiers raided houses nearby in Damanyo neighborhood where they arrested five men and a boy, including three brothers named Abdulkadir Ibrahim Diriye, Sharmarke Ibrahim Diriye, and 17-year-old Jama Ibrahim Diriye; two construction workers named Abdi Haji Aden Mursal and Abdi Abdullahi Abdulle; and a sixth man only identified as “Deqow.”

 

A relative of the three brothers saw most of the events. He told Human Rights Watch,

 

The Ethiopian soldiers were looking for men; lots of people were running away from the area. They entered a house that was being rebuilt, arresting six men including three brothers, a visiting relative, and two builders. The Ethiopians took them away towards the scene of the incident. We thought they were going to detain them. Soon after, we heard gunshots from the direction of the scene. I was the first to go there; I saw four bodies including [the three brothers]…Their bodies were shredded with bullets…They were killed about 4:30 p.m.197

 

A female family member of one of the men told Human Rights Watch that she counted six bullets in the body of her relative—in the mouth, neck, and chest. Nineteen-year-old Abdi Abdullahi Abdulle’s body was riddled with bullets; his hands were tied behind his back and there was blood all over his body.198

 

Although this report focuses on abuses in the context of the conflict in Mogadishu, Human Rights Watch has documented further incidents of summary executions by Ethiopian forces. During their campaign to oust the ICU in December 2006 and January 2007, Ethiopian forces operating in southern Somalia, near the border with Kenya, were responsible for at least two summary executions of Somali men. Several eyewitnesses who saw the bodies and were interviewed independently said that after their capture by Ethiopian troops the two men’s hands were bound behind their backs and they were shot several times in the chest.199

 

Source: Human Right Watch

 

Now Mr Caamir, are you prepared to condemn the actions of the Ethios?

[me]

Hypocrisy all over da place.

[Jacaylbaro]

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