'Brutal' attack by Addis police

The riot police cornered many of the protesters

By Nita Bhalla in Addis Ababa

Hundreds of Ethiopian riot police armed with batons and riot shields stormed central Addis Ababa today beating up civilians including women and children.

A wing of the Ethiopian police, known as the 'special forces', were called in to break up a riot which erupted when a peaceful demonstration turned into a violent protest.

The police trapped the demonstrators in a small road

The scenes I witnessed in the Arat Kilo area of Addis Ababa can only be described as brutal.

The riot police arrived at the scene at 1300 local time (1000 GMT), when a group of about 100 civilians outside the Addis Ababa University campus started throwing rocks and bottles at the police.

Riot police

The special forces took charge of a situation, which was beyond the control of the regular police force.

They trapped the rioters along a small road before charging at them from all directions.

As the rioters dispersed, the special force officers pursued them beating them mercilessly, even as the rioters surrendered and pleaded with them to stop.

Some of the demonstrators were left lying on the floor

Many lay motionless on the ground as the police continued to beat and kick them.

Some of the officers stormed the homes of civilians living and working in the area, looking for more of the rioters, but finding none they began beating women and young children.

As I tried to record the screams of the women, they turned on me and began pushing and shoving me out of the way.

'Bad image'

They snatched my camera as I tried to take pictures of the atrocities, saying that I should not portray Ethiopia to the world in this way.

When I protested, they grabbed the sound recorder and threw it to the ground smashing it to pieces.

The rioters, who were not students, say they sympathised with the week-long boycott of classes by over 3,000 university students.

The students have been demanding the removal of armed police from their campus.

They are also demanding the resignation of the two university vice-presidents who they claim are affiliated to the government.

The ministry of education on Monday gave the students a deadline to return to classes by noon Wednesday or face withdrawal from the university.

The situation in the area has been tense for the past week.

The increasing number of police as well as the constant protests by the students is thought to have encouraged the demonstrators to start attacking the police.