The Associated Press

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia March 29 — Security forces battled student protesters demanding aid for farmers, leaving two dead and five injured in four Ethiopian cities, a regional official said Friday.

Juneidi Sado, the president of the autonomous Oromiya region, said elementary and high school students "went on the rampage" during protests this week.

He said the students were protesting what they consider the indifference of the regional and federal governments to the plight of farmers in the region, who have been hard hit by falling prices for coffee and other agricultural products since October.

Juneidi claimed the opposition Oromo Liberation Front, which has declared war on the government, was behind the student unrest.

The protests began in Ambo, 80 miles west of Addis Ababa, and spread to Nekemt, Ghimbi and Shambu along the main highway through Oromiya, he said.

"The students first tried to stage a demonstration in Ambo without the necessary permits and then stoned police and militia forces who had tried to stop the illegal demonstration," Juneidi said.

One student was injured in Ambo and five were arrested Monday, he said. Similar demonstrations were held in Nekemt and Ghimbi and about 100 students were arrested in Nekemt. The last protest was on Wednesday in Ghimbi.

Two students were killed and four others were injured in Shambu, he said. The Oromo Liberation Front "has been trying to infiltrate students, particularly high school students, to advance its hidden agenda under various pretexts," he said. It was impossible to reach the students or front officials because of poor telecommunications in Ethiopia.

Juneidi said the government has reduced the tax on coffee from the equivalent of 7 cents to 2 cents and was trying to export more to the United States and other foreign markets. The Oromiya administration has also earmarked $4.5 million to buy agricultural products from the farmers to stabilize the market, he said.