Beshasha

Beshasha is a town in central Ethiopia. It is located in the Gomma woreda near Agaro, which is a part of the Jimma Zone in the Oromia Region.

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Beshasha has an estimated total population of 2,624 of whom 1,320 were males and 1,304 were females. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Table B.4] The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 1,467 of whom 716 were males and 751 were females. It is one of six towns in Gomma woreda.

Records at the Nordic Africa Institute website provide details of a primary school constructed with Swedish funds at Beshasha in 1965. [ [http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/B/ORTBEL.pdf "Local History in Ethiopia"] (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 15 February 2008)] On 14 October, 2006, three hundred Moslems, armed with guns and knives, reportedly attacked a group of unarmed Ethiopian Christians. Reports claim that six people (two priests, two elderly women and two men) were killed and 15 others wounded. The Christians were holding a midnight worship service in a local church. [ [http://www.christiantoday.com/article/muslim.mob.kills.six.christians.in.ethiopia/8559.htm "Muslim Mob Kills Six Christians In Ethiopia"] "Christianity Today" website (accessed 14 July, 2007)] In February of the following year, the Jimma Federal High Court sentenced six men to death and 100 other defendants to prison for their participation in this attack. [ [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90097.htm "Ethiopia: International Religious Freedom Report 2007"] United States State Department website (accessed 22 May 2008)]

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