Gunmen have killed more than 100 people in a dawn attack in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia, according to the country’s human rights commission.
The attack occurred on Wednesday in the village of Bekoji in Bulen county in the Metekel zone, the state-run Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said in a statement, an area where multiple ethnic groups are living.
Africa’s second-most populous nation has been grappling with regular outbreaks of deadly violence since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was appointed in 2018 and accelerated democratic reforms that loosened the state’s iron grip on regional rivalries.
Elections due next year have further inflamed simmering tensions over land, power and resources.
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Geneva, Dec. 22, 2020 Reports of artillery strikes on civilians and mass killings of non-combatants in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, must be investigated and full access granted to independent investigators, UN rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, said on Tuesday.
A UN statement said the appeal by the High Commissioner for Human Rights follows seven weeks of conflict in northern Ethiopia between central Government soldiers and Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces that has displaced tens of thousands.
“Fighting is said to be continuing, particularly in some areas of north, central and southern Tigray,” Ms. Bachelet said in a statement, highlighting how the lack of overall humanitarian access and ongoing communications blackout in many areas had continued to raise concerns about civilians.
Dec 23, 2020 2:25 PM EDT
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission says more than 100 people have been killed in the latest massacre along ethnic lines in the western part of the country.
The Amhara Mass Media Agency, affiliated with the country’s Amhara region, in a separate report cited witnesses as saying the attack occurred early Wednesday in the Metekel zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz region.
The attack occurred a day after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited the region and spoke about the need to bring those responsible for recent attacks to justice. Ethnic tensions are a major challenge as Abiy tries to promote national unity in a country with more than 80 ethnic groups.
24 Dec 2020 / 03:30 H.
(Refiles to make paragraph 8 read: The region is home to several ethnic groups including the Gumuz. , not just the Gumuz) Two area residents say they counted a total of 102 bodies Addis Ababa govt aware of attack, verifying details Fears of security vacuum due to war in Tigray region
ADDIS ABABA, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Gunmen killed more than 100 people in a dawn attack in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia on Wednesday, the human rights commission said, as residents described fleeing the latest deadly assault in an area bedevilled by ethnic violence.
The attack occurred in the village of Bekoji in Bulen county in the Metekel zone, the state-run Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said in a statement, an area where multiple ethnic groups are living.