ADDIS ABABA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Command Post that was established to enforce the recently decreed 6-month state of emergency announced on Monday that it has sent an investigation team to probe the killing of nine civilians who were mistakenly killed.
According to the Command Post Secretariat, an investigation team, which includes senior Ethiopian defense force members, has been sent to the area were Ethiopian soldiers mistakenly killed and injured civilians in the southern part of the East African country.
The soldiers were said to be in an operation which turned out to be a mistake as they were on a mission to attack the rebel group Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which the Ethiopian government considered as a terrorist group, according to the Secretariat.
The incident happened on Saturday when an army unit deployed around Moyale city along Ethiopia's border with its neighboring country Kenya to intercept suspected OLF fighters, in which Ethiopian army soldiers opened fire on civilians on a basis of mistaken information and killed 9 and injured 12 civilians.
The Ethiopian government shortly after the incident announced that it has disarmed some members of its army force and put under arrest pending investigation procedures regarding the deadly incident.
Moyale city, located in Ethiopia's Oromia regional state along the border with Kenya, has been in a state of unrest since the first half of 2016.
Similar recent unrest and violent incidents have forced the Ethiopian government to impose a six-month martial law effective as of Feb. 16, saying it was to protect the country's constitution, citizens and their property from the dangers that would arise from the ongoing violent demonstrations in different parts of the country.
The East African country had since the second half of 2016 witnessed a 10-month long state of emergency period that followed widespread public protests in parts of the country.
