Clashes between riot police and protesters erupted in gunfire Wednesday, with police killing at least 12 people as demonstrations against Ethiopia's disputed elections stretched into a second day, officials said. Hundreds of heavily armed riot police were deployed across the capital as the sound of heavy machine-gun fire, rifle fire and loud explosions rocked Addis Ababa. Ethiopia's crack special forces, aboard armored personnel carriers, patrolled the streets that were littered with burning tires and broken glass. The fighting spread across the city, reaching the doorstep of the embassies of Britain, France, Kenya, Belgium - all located in different parts of the capital. Workers at U.N. headquarters were told not to leave their offices. At least 51 civilians also were wounded in Wednesday's clashes, including a 7-year-old boy who was shot in the hip, doctors at two leading hospitals said. The violence followed clashes Tuesday between protesters and police that killed eight people and wounded 43 others.
| EFL. Just another day in beautiful Africa. |