Ethiopia’s “Liyuu Police” massacre innocent Somalis in border town

Mogadishu (Harar24) – Troops belonging to the “Liyuu Police” who come under the Ethiopian administration in Somali territories in Ethiopia have came under accusation of massacring almost sixty ethnic Somalis in the cities of Mustahil and Qalafe on the border Somali-Ethiopian border.

According to local sources the Jigjiga based administration accused the local inhabitants of harboring and providing a safe haven to Al-Shabaab members in the area, a claim denied by the local inhabitants. According to local tribal leader Omar Sheekh Yusuf all of those who were killed were innocent people, the majority of them being herders.

According to Somali Member of Parliament Ali Abdi Ali, who originally hails from the area surrounding Mustahil and Qalafe  confirmed the occurrence of the massacre at Mustahil and Qalafe. “We have confirmation that the forces belonging to the Liyuu Police massacred innocent herders in the areas surrounding Mustahil and Qalafe. The Jigjiga based Ethiopian administration was behind this massacre and this is a fact.”

According to sources in the region systematic rape also took place alongside the killings. “They came and started shooting in the air. They rounded us up, my mother & sisters and they raped us. When they left we found my father dead. My brother was not found amongst the dead bodies. We don’t know where he is.” said one of the victims who preferred to keep her identity hidden for fear of repercussion.

The “Liyuu Police” & the Ethiopian administration have long been accused of ruthlessness, lawlessness, cracking down on ethnic Somalis in the region and violating human rights yet remain unapprehended.