PG7 forces (Photo file)
ESAT News (June 6, 2017)
At least 60 political prisoners were freed after anti-regime forces opened fire at a prison in north Gondar in town called Chinfaz Silara. One prison officer was killed and three others were injured.
ESAT’s sources say armed men belonging to Patriotic Ginbot 7, a group fighting the Ethiopian regime freed the political prisoners in Silara town after five hours of shootout with prison police.
A freed prisoner who spoke to ESAT on the phone from Gondar said the overwhelming majority of prisoners were jailed for allegedly being members of Patriotic Ginbot 7. He said the shootout began at about 10 p.m. on Monday and lasted till 3 a.m. One person was injured on the PG7 side and the police officers were forced to retreat.
PG7 claimed that its forces have in recent weeks escalated their attack targeting regime’s army and prisons where political prisoners were held.
On Sunday, Chairman of PG7, Prof. Berhanu Nega disclosed that regime forces have been dealt with a serious blow in a two-day fight in Gondar last week. Nega said that last week’s attack was one of the serious blows to the regime since the start of the armed struggle. He said the regime deployed thousands of its forces to crush freedom fighters led by his group, but instead sustained a major defeat in localities called Ajere and Janora in North Gondar as well as well as in Kemkem and Belesa in the south.
He said the fight against the tyrannical regime will continue till the Ethiopian people reclaim their freedom.
There has been no confirmation or denial of the incident by the regime so far.