1. Home
  2. East Africa
  3. Ethiopia

Ethiopia denies looting Somali border town

[Senegal] Senegalese children run as locusts spread in the capital Dakar August 2004 IRIN
Ethiopia today denied press reports that its troops engaged in massive looting of private property in the Somali border town of Balanballe. A statement from the Ethiopian embassy in Nairobi termed the Ethiopian force “a disciplined outfit” which has no track record of “looting property or any misconduct anywhere, anytime.” The statement said it respects the territorial integrity of Somalia despite the absence of a central government. Press reports had alleged that Ethiopian troops in pursuit of Muslim fundamentalists from the Al-Itihad Al-Islam group crossed over to the Somalia side where they kidnapped one person and stole medicine and other property.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join