Five killed in attack on tourists in Ethiopia

Five people were killed when foreign tourists, including Austrian, Belgian, German, Hungarian and Italian nationals, were attacked by gunmen in Ethiopia.

Two foreigners were also kidnapped.

Gunmen – said by the Ethiopian government to be from the neighbouring and rival country of Eritrea – attacked the tourist group before dawn yesterday, killing five, wounding two and taking two hostage. Two Ethiopians were also kidnapped.

Ethiopian state TV reported that eight tourists were in the targeted group, but Austria’s foreign ministry said last night that two groups totalling as many as 22 people might have been attacked.

The tourists were visiting the volcanic region in Ethiopia’s northern Afar region, an area that lies below sea level and is known for its intense heat and picturesque salt flats.

Some groups “trained and armed by the Eritrean government” attacked the tourists about 12 to 15 miles from the Eritrean border, according to the Ethiopians.

But Eritrea’s ambassador to the African Union Girma Asmerom said Ethiopia’s allegations are “fabricated” and an “absolute lie” and insisted the attack was an internal Ethiopian matter.

Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a border war from 1998 to 2000, which claimed the lives of about 80,000 people. Tension between the neighbouring East African countries rose last year when a UN report revealed that Eritrea was behind a plot to attack an African Union summit in Ethiopia in January.

In 2007, five Europeans and 13 Ethiopians were kidnapped in the remote Afar region. Ethiopia accused Eritrea of masterminding that kidnapping, but Eritrea blamed an Ethiopian rebel group.

All of those hostages were released, though some of the Ethiopians were held for more than a month.

In 2008, Ethiopia foiled a kidnapping attempt on a group of 28 French tourists in the area.