Ethiopia blames Eritrea for unrest

A terrorist group from Eritrea is responsible for killing five European tourists in northern Ethiopia, an Ethiopian official said. Five European tourists were killed Tuesday in the northeastern Ethiopian region of Afar, about 15 miles from the Eritrean border. Two German tourists were kidnapped during the raid. Ethiopian Communications Minister Bereket Simon told Bloomberg News that gunmen backed by the Eritrean government were responsible for the attack. "The terrorist group from Eritrea crossed the border and attacked, killing five," the minister said. "The perpetrators have gone back to Eritrea." Girma Asmeron, the Eritrean envoy to the African Union, told Bloomberg that Ethiopia's allegations were "pathetic." The U.N. Security Council placed sanctions on Eritrea for its support for extremist groups in the region. The Security Council blamed Eritrea for backing armed insurgent groups working to destabilize a fragile situation in Somalia. The Security Council expressed further concern over a so-called diaspora tax that the Eritrean government allegedly used to fund extremist groups in the region. Eritrea and Ethiopia were at war for two years starting in 1998.