ADDIS ABABA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Violent clashes between security forces and protestors in southern Ethiopia has left at least four people dead, an Ethiopian official said on Friday.

The clashes started on Thursday morning between ethnic Sidama youth agitating for the creation of their own regional state and security forces with the clashes continuing until Friday morning.

Zinaw Serniso, General Manager of Hawassa Referral General Hospital told Xinhua that the hospital has received so far four dead bodies, all killed by gunfire. The hospital has also treated the non-life-threatening injuries of several more protestors, said Serniso.

The clashes were originally centered in Hawassa city, 275 km southeast of the capital city Addis Ababa, but later spread to neighboring towns and rural areas.

Sidamas make up around 5 percent of Ethiopia's estimated 105 million population. In recent years, Sidama activists have campaigned for Sidama zone to break out of Ethiopia's Southern regional state and form Ethiopia's 10th regional state.

Ethiopia currently has nine regional states, although over the last one year several ethnic groups in the country have been campaigning to create their own regional states, heightening fears of political instability in the country.

On Tuesday, in a bid to appease the rising radicalism of Sidama activists, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia said it plans to hold a referendum on "Sidama regional state" status within a five months period. Enditem

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