Swedish journalists arrested, 15 killed
Published:Tuesday | July 5, 2011 | 12:00 AM
ADDIS ABABA (AP):
Ethiopian troops killed 15 rebels in the country's restive east and arrested two Swedish journalists who were with them, an Ethiopian official said yesterday.
Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye were lightly wounded in last week's clash between troops and rebels from the Ogaden National Liberation Front, which the Ethiopian government considers a terrorist organisation.
The journalists were given medical treatment and are in police custody in the city of Jijiga, government spokesman Shimeles Kamal said.
Shimeles said Schibbye was wounded in the shoulder and Persson has a bullet wound in his hand.
"The injuries are all very minor," he said.
He said one of the journalists had previously been deported from Ethiopia for engaging with the same group. However, a Swedish colleague of the journalists denied that.
Journalists are prohibited from traveling freely in the Somali region, known as the Ogaden, which borders Somalia.