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Ethnic clashes kill 44 in restive western Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA, Oct 2, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Weekend fighting between rival
ethnic groups in western Ethiopia killed at least 44 people, state affiliated
media reported Tuesday.
The clashes occurred on the border between the central Oromia and western
Benishangul-Gumuz regions.
Violence began when officials from Benishangul-Gumuz were killed by
unidentified gunmen, said the Walta Media and Communication Corporate, citing
the region’s communications chief Zelalem Jaleta.
The clashes between youths from rival ethnic groups armed with rocks and
knives forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes with security
forces deployed to pacify the area.
Benishangul-Gumuz is one of Ethiopia’s nine regional states, stretching
to the border with Sudan.
The UN humanitarian office OCHA said some 70,000 people had been
displaced in the wave of violence. In its latest update, OCHA said the
fighting began last Wednesday with the death of the four high-ranking
officials.
While Ethiopia’s new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has received praise from
around the globe for his reformist agenda, a wave of communal violence —
mostly over land issues — has marred the first few months of his rule.
At least 58 people were killed in September when fighting broke out in
the capital, with those fleeing saying they were targeted by Oromo mobs
because they are members of minority ethnic groups.
Fighting between the Oromo — the country’s largest ethnic group — and
the Gedeo minority in the south of the country meanwhile has displaced nearly
one million people.
BSS/AFP/RY/1935 hrs