This archive report was first published on 19 July 2019.
At least four people have died in protests in the southern Ethiopian city of Hawassa, where the Sidama ethnic group has been agitating for their own semi-autonomous state.
According to Zinaw Serniso, general manager of the Hawassa Referral Hospital, the four victims were admitted on Thursday, with three of them dying the same day and the fourth, a woman, dying on Friday.
The victims included one person shot in the head and another shot in the stomach, hospital officials said.
Protests erupted in Hawassa on Thursday after the Sidama Liberation Movement, which has been leading calls for the new state, accepted government demands for a delay pending a referendum before the end of the year.
Regional police commissioner Tewodros Woldemichael acknowledged that unrest had spread outside the city, with efforts underway to put the violence under control.
Published on July 19, 2019 by AFP.
