Gunmen in southern Ethiopia fired on Swedish tourists

December 15, 2014 (Expressen) — Four Swedish tourists were shot in southern Ethiopia on 12 December 2014. The Embassy was in contact with them and they feel under the circumstances, says Ulla Jacobson at the Ministry’s press office to SVT News.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the Swedish tourists were at an animal sanctuary when they came under fire. None of them were injured in the incident.

According expressen.se, which spoke with the wife of one of the shot, put the Swedes in a jeep. The husband saw other jeeps run to catch up, saw that they were getting ready to open fire and he threw himself down on the floor.

Firefight with park rangers

A gunfight broke out between the pursuers and park rangers in a jeep in front, with the Swedes vehicle in the middle.
– Afterwards boxes on their jeep riddled and it was bullet holes in the door, says his wife to Expressen.
She says that the tourist group has been in Ethiopia for a week, and that they consist of a group of friends at around a dozen Swedes who is on holiday in the country.

It was in the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia as the Swedes came under fire near the border to northern Kenya. In northern Kenya, the terrorist group Al-Shabaab active and the group has previously claimed responsibility for several attacks. But according to Ulla Jacobson does not know the Foreign Ministry that the area would be particularly risky.
– We have no record of it, she says to SVT News.