§ 137. Mr. Albuasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will make a further statement on the fighting between tribesmen from the Somaliland Protectorate and Ethiopian tribesmen.
§ Mr. ProfumoFollowing investigations on the spot, the British Liaison Staff have reported to the Governor of the Somaliland Protectorate as follows.
On 29th November members of the Arap tribe from the Protectorate attacked members of the Ethiopian Ogaden tribe near Awareh, killing one of them and looting between forty and seventy camels. An Ethiopian force went out immediately from Awareh and met seven armed Protectorate Somali Habr Awal tribesmen. Fire was exchanged and one Habr Awal was killed and one Ethiopian Police Corporal who was wounded died later. Two Habr Awal tribesmen were captured with their arms and the Ethiopian force then returned to Awareh.
Next morning a force of about thirty-five Ethiopian Police and Frontier Guards left Awareh, and a fight took place with some three hundred Somali tribesmen, mainly Arap, at a point about fifteen miles north-west of Awareh. The Ethiopians have reported that four of their men were killed, three wounded and three rifles lost. Somali casualties were three killed and three wounded. Two Ethiopian vehicles and one Ethiopian wireless vehicle were damaged.
On the night of 1st December and early morning of 2nd December a force of Ethiopian Frontier Guards attacked four nomadic encampments at Haabo Humeyd, about forty miles from Awareh, and four Somalis, including two women and a girl, are known to have been killed. The four encampments were looted, twenty huts burned and some stock slaughtered.
During 2nd December and 3rd December a force of Ethiopian Frontier Guards 184W attacked Lanquairta about fifty miles from Awareh and its environs, killing four men and one woman. Houses were burnt, household property and food looted and a large number of sheep and goats slaughtered.