At least 14 civilians and a police officer have died in the latest ethnic violence in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, officials said on Monday, increasing to hundreds.
Dozens of homes have burned to the ground and thousands of civilians have been displaced since just Wednesday, many of them now housed in schools and stadiums, officials said.
The Ethiopian military said on Sunday that it was sending troops to try to calm the situation, which has exacerbated security concerns ahead of the national elections scheduled for early June.
The Amhara region is dominated by the ethnic Amhara group, Ethiopia’s second largest.
The violence there has affected the northern Shoa zone and the Oromo special zone, the latter of which is populated mainly by Oromos, the country’s largest group.
Ethiopia’s chief ombudsman, Endale Haile, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) earlier this month that the violence in Amhara had killed more than 300 people over several days in March.
After a short period of calm, it flared up again last week.
“In the second round, I have treated more than 30 injuries and more than ten people were killed,” Wondwossen Zeleke, a health representative in the North Shoa district of Antsokia, told AFP on Monday.
“I see unparalleled murder, displacement and mass arson of homes. All these victims were shot,” he said.
Teshome Yilma, administrator of North Shoa’s Majete town, told AFP that at least four farmers were killed in an area and a police officer was shot dead in a separate incident.
Both officials said they expected the actual toll to be much higher once communications had been completely restored in the area.
They attributed the violence at least in part to the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) rebel group.
But OLA spokeswoman Odaa Tarbii told AFP that his group had no presence in the area and dismissed the allegations as a pretext to drive Oromos out of Amhara.
Abiy under pressure
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2019, is under increasing pressure to address the violence.
The National Movement for Amhara, an opposition political party, on Monday criticized his response, saying that Amhara special forces should be given the power to protect civilians in the affected areas.
“It seems that the government is preventing the Amhara special forces from operating freely in the area and from taking down these armed criminals,” Dessalegn Chanie, a leading member of the party, told AFP, adding that he did not trust the military to restore order. .
Abiy came to power in 2018 after several years of anti-government protests organized by Amhara and Oromo youths.
But his term has been marred by ethnic violence, and analysts warn national elections scheduled for June 5 could provide further uncertainty.
The EU allocates EUR 53 million in aid
Meanwhile, the European Union said on Monday that it would allocate € 53.7 million ($ 64.6 million) in humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable people in Ethiopia, including those affected by the conflict, according to a statement.
EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic, who is expected in Ethiopia on Tuesday, said the conflict in the Tigray region has exacerbated an already difficult situation in the Horn of Africa.
“Humanitarian needs, including basic survival needs such as food security, health and protection, are growing. In addition, violence is increasing in several parts of the country … In addition, five months into the conflict, the situation in Tigray remains serious despite small improvements and keeps millions of people in need. of help, especially in rural and inaccessible areas, he says.
Lenarcic will meet with Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen when he arrives in Ethiopia, according to the statement.
He said the key priority remains to ensure humanitarian access to all those in need in the Tigray region.
The Ethiopian government is working to reach six Woredas (districts) that have not received any food aid, aimed at about 300,000 people, according to the UN.
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