New police of Ethiopia zone five somali regional governmentBy: Yusuf M HasanGASHAMO (Somalilandsun) - More than 10 deaths and a score of injuries has ensued following clashes between residents of Gashamo and the new police.
The clashes between the residents and the Ethiopian Zone five new police started 2 days ago after a new police officer killed a man who tried to them (new police) from raping a woman shopkeeper in Ragda village of Gashamo District.
Following the killing of late Farhaan Ali Goohe by a rampaging contingent of 10 officers of the new police area residents armed themselves and pursued the escaping officers thus killing 8 of the officers after they were cornered in an isolated ridge in Habaale Ase area. Thus skirmish also resulted in the grievous harm to three of the attacking residents.
The dead Farhan has already been buried while 4 of the injured residents were taken to the Hargeisa group hospital where they are receiving medical attention.
Following the revenge killings of 8 officers the new police are said to have mobilized in large numbers and in a revenge attempt that has resulted in the burning to ground of a number of villages in Gashamo area of zone five mainly inhabited by members of the Habryonis clan of the Isaaq Tribe from Somaliland.
The four villages which bore the brunt of the revenge wrath from the new police are Galka-boodo-libaah, Dhoobo Guduud, Raqda and Adaada all in Gashamo district and mainly inhabited by the Habryonis.
According to a traditional leader from the area Sultan Mohamed Hirsi Qani, Habryonis clansmen from the Gashamo area in Ethiopia and those from Toghdeer region in Somaliland are amassing in large numbers in Gashamo to offer resistance to what has been termed as continued persecution by the new police.
The new police which is a special unit established by the Ethiopian zone five Somali regional government is known to continuously perpetrate acts of brutality against Isaaq tribes owing to the fact that 90% of new police members are from the Ogaden which is a clan within the Darood tribe.
Though animosity between Darood and Isaaq's are historical it beats reason why the Ethiopian federal government has remained silent to these overtly committed acts of atrocities by an institution under its pay.
While the new police are under the direct orders of the regional president of the zone five, the Ethiopian government has not uttered a word nor raised a finger against the regional president who is under the direct supervision of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's office.
The silence of the Ethiopian government and more specifically Prime Minister Zenawi seems to indicate tacit approval for continued atrocities committed by the new police against Ethiopians of Somaliland descent.
On the other hand the Somaliland government seems to be the lame duck of this situation as it has so far not raised a finger nor uttered a word in protest. The withdrawal of new police from areas bordering Somaliland was one of the agreements reached in Addis Ababa during a recent meeting between Zenawi and Silanyo.
Somaliland has on various occasions borne the brunt of atrocities perpetrated by the new police not only against Ethiopians of Somaliland descent but within the country itself a good example being the armed escort given to Ali Khalif Galayd to Taleeh to attend a tribal meeting of a Darood the based Dulbahante clan that subsequently proclaimed the Khatuumo State. Incidentally Taleeh town is hundreds of kilometers from the Ethio-Somaliland border.
Another example of further atrocities is the incident in Dogoshi village in Toghdeer region of Somaliland where a number of new police officers were injured in skirmishes with residents. The new police are said to have invaded the country in order to capture an Islamic scholar based in Dogoshi whom they were accusing of being a terrorist associated with Al-Qaeda
All said and done Somalilanders cannot continue to tolerate new police rapes against their women nor theft of property and the ongoing amassing of citizen defense forces will not only result in bloodshed but damage to good relations between the two neighboring countries.
It is therefore imperative and urgently imperative at that, that the Ethiopian Federal government take steps to ensure that tensions are dissolved while new police offenders are brought to book. As per Somaliland the government should make an official statement on its position as pertains to the current and past activities of the new police that are detrimental to the welfare of Ethiopians of Somaliland origin.
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