For those with Amnesia Ethiopian soldiers commit of war crimes in Somalia Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Ethiopian troops in Somalia of killing civilians and committing atrocities, including slitting people's throats, gouging out eyes and gang-raping women . In a new report, the human rights group, which is based in London, detailed chilling witness accounts of indiscriminate killings in Somalia and called on the international community to stop the bloodshed. The rights group said it had scores of reports of killings by Ethiopian troops. In one case, "a young child's throat was slit by Ethiopian soldiers in front of the child's mother," the report says. " The people of Somalia are being killed, raped, tortured. Looting is widespread and entire neighborhoods are being destroyed," Michelle Kagari, the Amnesty deputy director for Africa , said in a statement from Nairobi that accompanied the report. Haboon, 56, said her neighbor's 17-year-old daughter had been raped by Ethiopian troops. The girl's brothers tried to defend their sister, but the soldiers beat them and gouged their eyes out with a bayonet , Haboon was quoted as telling Amnesty.

Abuse and terror in the Somali region The war-torn Somali region in Ethiopia is a land scarred by terror. An ongoing struggle for autonomy is being fought between the outlawed Ogden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the Ethiopian military but it is not just ONLF members who are being brutalised. An undercover investigation by the Bureau and the BBC’s Newsnight provides new evidence of ongoing brutal human rights abuses by Ethiopian government forces. Today the area is a no-go zone for foreigners, the media and aid agencies. Instead, it is kept under strict Ethiopian government control, making it difficult to assess what is going on. But in Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in the world in northern Kenya, there are thousands, who have fled from the Ogden region, claiming to have been subjected to horrific abuses by Ethiopian government troops. Torture victims A grandmother in her 50s, told us that she was one of more than 100 civilians seized from her village in the Ogden by government forces in 2009. Some of the villagers were killed, including her son, and others were taken to jail. She says ‘I was raped’ by ‘a queue’ of soldiers. ‘They raped me in a room, one of them was standing on my mouth, and one tied my hand, they were taking turns, I fainted during this.’ Another victim described how she was eight months pregnant when government forces arrested her, then raped and beat her until she lost her baby. ..

Big shame wallahi subxanallah that we have fellow Somalis inviting all sorts of Gaalo into our country to fight their own people... Habashi, Ugandans, Burundi, Kenya etc, But lackeys are lackeys and its not like the "TFG" has any power, the agenda is set and driven by outside forces. Alshabaabna, on the other hand, is also completely misguided... we are part of Al-CIAda ku lahayeen SMFH. With fellow-countrymen like these, who needs enemies Some things are unforgivable and unforgetable.

Here is Diri Dhaba, the second capital of "Ethiopia". The entire city is pretty much like this. Seriously, the second capital of a country of 91 million people - compare it to the pictures of the small towns above.

And so forth, I could post more countless little towns have received more investment than the Somali region as a whole, or even Jigjiga or Diri Dhaba. Not only is the Ethiopian regime committing genocide against the Somali people, funnily enough it is even intentionaly disregarding the Somali cities and regions that come under its control; whilst using the tax collected fromt the Somali region and cities either (a) to kill, maim and displace Somalis or (b) to invest it in other regions such as Tigray, Amhara etc. Then you have some Somalis who think that Ethiopia or Ethiopian troops are the solution rather than one of the problems also in Somalia itself. Are these people so dumb that they ignore all the flashing signals everywhere. Ma anaa waalan mise dadkan wax baa ka qaldan ?? SMFH.

Adama/Nazret Town Adama General Hospital Complex

^ And these 'cities' the Ethiopian government has been pumping money into are practically towns not even cities.

Bahir Dar City - Amhara region

Carafaat;809846 wrote: Oday, Zack, i have visited all those regions years ago. And the people there dont have any armed opposition against the regime. They make a fist together in Addis to get their share. But Somali regions only started doing that the last couple of years. And that is when development actually started. I dont even have the energy today to reply to people like you.

Planned Future Railwaylines Ethiopia

M'kele city M'kele city centre In M'kele city, the few streets that arn't paved, are cobblestoned One of the colleges in M'kele

Awassa city Awassa University Hospital

Compare it to Addis Which I know is the capital city but more city are to come, so hang on.

Qandalawi;809808 wrote: ^This city looks fine for the standard of an African city that's not the Capital. Again, blaming the Ethiopian government for not building this city is not the right way or approach here. This is the capital of the Somali region. The Ethiopian government takes tax from the entire Somali region and puts nothing back into it - not that we expect that but heck they claim to be the [federal] 'government' of the region/people.

Jigjiga

It is very sad how underdeveloped, compared to the other major cities in Ethiopia, this city is. The ethiopian 'government' intentionally and deliberately ignores this region and does nothing for it - it uses the tax money from the Somali region to invest in Addis, Tigray, Amhara. But what do you expect from a city under occupation. I will post some pics.

http://m.yahoo.com/w/news_america/blogs/envoy/kony-2012-filmmaker-arrested-san-diego-205649394.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=us&.lang=en-us

Have they specified what development projects exactly they will be taking part in ?

Mukulaalow;804855 wrote: It seems we were more productive and industrialized 700 years ago, They must have not known Khat . I still can't believe that our people would eat a weed, much like nettle, moss etc. that grows in Ethiopia and Kenya SMFH. Funnily enough Zenawi has banned it in many parts of Ethiopia particularly Tigray. Also, many Ethiopian farmers who used to farm coffee-beans have switched to the more lucrative Qat. Heck even if 'we' are buying it, though we shouldnt be, the Somali traders/buyers do not even negotiate good prices. For example... for enough coffee beans for one jar, the Ethiopian farmers would get 18 cents. In comparison, Somalis pay them $4 dollars per bundle; xitaa waxay garan waayeen push down the prices since you are the only and single biggest buyer SMFH.

Chimera;804868 wrote: Typical Somalis, competing against eachother like individuals fighting their own shadows. Is it an inferiority complex, is it a village-mentality or are you guys too afraid to compete with non-Somali cities? I recall that before the war no city in East Africa was given a prestigious nickname like ''The Pearl of the Indian Ocean'' that Mogadishu was once known as, it had the only major Film Festival in East Africa and the largest Museum. I recall Berbera was the only city in Africa that boasted an airport serving as an emergency landing strip for NASA, etc, etc. Why not focus on outperforming non-Somalis by transforming our cities into word-class hubs instead of this crabs in a bucket mentality? Compared to other cities in sub-saharab africa or even the ethiopia that has no private sector our cities look a shambles. We have a lot of work to do.

Gaacuur;804869 wrote: OdaySomali, malaga badbadin Kismaayo, Kaalinta 5aad after Mogadishu, Hargeysa, Baladweyne and Baydhabo ayay ku jirtaa.. it was the 3rd largest city marki Dawladdi jirtay, but due to conflicts sidi hore ma ahan . Yh true that. It has great potential and a bright future Inshallah.

Gaacuur, Showqi - you are both overestimating Kismaayo. Baidoa, Galkacyo, Burco. Booraama etc are all larger than Kismaayo. Going by Google earth that is. If you zoom into Kismaayo you will find that much of the outer areas of what looks like "the city" is just bush/farms etc.

Link to this economist article ??

loooooool

Showqi;804806 wrote: (in Berbera they have something they call xagaa bax. And in that period they have to close business and leave the town, because the weather gets so hot that its unbearable to stay inside Berbera town. So tell me which business man will agree to close his business more than three day!) Solar panels/generator + aircon + fridge + cold drinks + beach = solution Just look @ Djibouti or Dubai... they are just as hot as Berbera in the summer season.