Probe into death of Eritrean militiaman

The body of an Eritrean militiaman shot dead in the demilitarised zone has been exhumed as part of an investigation into his murder, the United Nations said on Thursday.

Gail Bindley Taylor Sainte, spokeswoman for the peacekeeping force in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), said the victim had bullet wounds to the shoulder and stomach.

The man was killed during a skirmish between three and five unknown armed uniformed men and two Eritrean militiamen, according to the UN.

“The investigating team exhumed the corpse of the militiaman and examined it,” Sainte told journalists at the weekly video-linked press briefing.

“The examination confirmed that the body was that of a male, dressed in militia uniform,” she said. “The body showed gunshot wounds to the stomach and on the left shoulder. The investigations are still in progress and a detailed report is being prepared.”

Ethiopia has categorically denied that its troops were involved in the shooting which occurred earlier this month.

The body was exhumed last Friday from a grave between 10 and 15 km from the scene of the shooting at Fawlina village inside the Temporary Security Zone.

The 25 km-wide wide TSZ is strictly off-limits to the armed forces of both countries although armed Eritrean militiamen are allowed to patrol it.

“We are continuing to investigate and if we didn’t think there was a good chance of finding out we wouldn’t investigate,” Sainte said.

She also revealed that the commander of the UN’s peacekeeping force, Major General Robert Gordon met Ethiopia’s top military official Lieutenant General Samora Yenus over the incident.

“The Force Commander emphasised that at no stage had UNMEE pointed a finger of blame at the Ethiopians for this incident and that the identity of the perpetrators was still unknown,” she added.