Two people were shot dead as clashes between police and protesters in the Ethiopian capital today to bring the death toll from three days of anti-government protests to at least 36.
"We have one person dead. He was 19 years old and hit in the chest," a doctor in confirmed today. Another doctor said a 60-year-old man was killed in unrest in an eastern suburb of Addis Ababa. An 11-year-old boy is also being treated for gunshot wounds.
In the African country's worst political violence in months, police in Addis Ababa opened fire to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who were apparently heeding a call by the opposition Coalition for Democracy and Unity (CUD) for renewed protests against a May 15th poll it says was rigged.
Police have also detained scores of people including human rights activists, residents said. "From last evening police have been rounding up CUD zonal leaders and human rights activists," said Adam Melaku, head of the independent Ethiopian Human Rights Council.
The Irish Government has come under criticism for not condemning the killings. Irish taxpayers donate €35 million per year to the Ethiopian government, according to Goal chief executive John O'Shea, who believes that the Taoiseach should join Britain in condemning the attacks.
"It's astonishing that the Irish Government don't seem to deem what has happened as meriting condemnation," Mr O'Shea said today.
Britain has warned its citizens against non-essential travel to Ethiopia, while Washington has condemned "cynical, deliberate" attempts to stoke violence in the capital and appealed to the opposition not to provoke unrest.
Political tensions in Africa's top coffee grower have deepened since a multiparty vote in May handed Prime Minister Meles Zenawi a third five-year term in power, despite a big swing to the opposition.