German tourist killed in attack in northern Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – The German Foreign Ministry confirms that a German national has been killed in an attack in northeastern Ethiopia.

Ethiopia’s state-run news agency says Sunday’s attack occurred near a volcanic lake at Erta Ale in the Afar region. The tourist’s local guide was wounded.

“The two got separated from a group of tourists and were taking photos around when they were shot at by unknown armed men,” the news agency quotes a local official as saying. “We are trying to arrest the perpetrators.”

The German national was not identified.

Ethiopia’s government has blamed attacks on foreign tourists in the area in 2012 and 2007 on neighbouring Eritrea, which denied the accusations. The 2012 attack killed two Germans, two Hungarians and an Austrian. The 2007 attack saw five Europeans and 13 Ethiopians kidnapped but released.

The Afar region is popular with researchers and tourists but rebels and bandits also roam the area.