Protesters Block Ethiopia Rail Link After Clashes Leave 300 Dead
- Railway line linking Ethiopia to Djiboutian port is closed
- Trade artery handles 95% of Ethiopia’s maritime trade
Internally displaced people in their shelter at a camp in the town of Azezo, Ethiopia, on July 12.
Photographer: Eduardo Soteras/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Protesters in eastern Ethiopia blocked and damaged a vital trade artery linking the landlocked African nation to a port in neighboring Djibouti, a government official said.
The railway between the two eastern African nations has been closed since the demonstrations took place Monday, Mohamed Rooble, a spokesman for the government of Ethiopia’s Somali region, said Tuesday. The protest followed an attack by special forces and militia fighters from neighboring Afar region carried out on the town of Garbaiisa, where many ethnic Somalis live.