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The Ethiopian police Wednesday warned that the security forces will continue to take all the necessary measures against opposition's political riot, which have killed at least 11 innocent civilians.
The police said they have taken an "intensive measure" to contain the political violence, which erupted here Tuesday and continued Wednesday, and they would continue to take "all the necessary measures before things went out of hand."
The police said in a statement that there were human causalities and property damage as a result of the unrest, which they said was incited by the largest opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD).
Information Minister Berhan Hailu confirmed the casualty, saying CUD leaders were behind the unrest in the city, a major stronghold of the opposition, adding that calm was now returning to the streets in the city of three million people.
Three police officers suffered heavy injuries while 51 others got minor injuries and the violence claimed the lives of 11 innocent civilians while injuring 28 others Wednesday, said the statement.
The statement said four of the five grenades thrown at police officers and went off while one failed to explode, adding that one police officer was killed as a result of this.
Wednesday's clashes came just one day after six protesters and two policemen were killed in violence between riot police and protesters. The protesters took to the street over the contested results of the May 15 parliamentary election.
Three city buses, two vehicles, which belong to police and the state-owned Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation, were set ablaze, while 80 city buses, seven state-owned vehicles, nine police vehicles and two private cars were broken by rioters.
Three offices of kebele administrations, one recreation center, two private shops, one private residence and a bus terminal were also set ablaze.
Several iron sheets were looted from a private investor, according to the statement, adding that the city residents have become the victims of the violence as transportation has been disrupted as the result of the violence.
Police called up on the city residents to cooperate with the security forces to contain the violence, while telling the Muslim faithful to celebrate their holy month of Ramadan peacefully as usual.
CUD has been boycotting the lower House of People's Representatives (HPR), saying it wants a solution to the disputed results of the election.
The final election results indicate that the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Party (EPRDF), which has ruled the country for the past 14 years, has won 327 seats of the 547-seat HPR, enough to form the federal government.
CUD and another opposition party, the United Ethiopian Democratic Force (UEDF), were in second and third places with 109 and 52 seats respectively. They held only 12 seats before.
The two opposition parties accuse the ruling party of massive electoral fraud.
(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2005)
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