Report: 5 tourists killed in Ethiopia

Published 1:05 pm Tuesday, January 17, 2012

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopian state TV says 5 foreign tourists have been killed by unknown armed rebels in Ethiopia’s restive Afar region in the country’s north.

The Ethiopian Television, or ETV, cited the Ethiopian Ministry of Defense reporting that a group of 8 unidentified foreign nationals were attacked near the Eritrean border.

ETV said Tuesday that 2 injured tourists were brought to a health clinic by defense forces and are in critical condition. Another tourist survived the attack unharmed.

ETV suggested the attackers were rebels with ties to Ethiopia’s archrival Eritrea, which hosts the exiled Oromo Liberation Front, a rebel group listed as a terrorist organization by the Ethiopian government.

Ethiopia’s foreign ministry confirmed the attack but had no details about it or the victims’ nationalities.