The Ethiopian military collided with alleged gunmen involved in a deadly attack in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region, killing 42, taking bows, arrows and other weapons, state-affiliated Fana TV reported on Thursday.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said on Wednesday that more than 100 people have been killed in the latest massacre along ethnic lines in the western part of the country. Amhara Media Bureau, affiliated with the country’s Amhara region, quoted witnesses in a separate report as saying that the attack took place early on Wednesday in the Metekel zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz region, a day after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited the region and spoke of the need to bring to justice those responsible for the latest attacks.
It was not immediately clear who the attacks were, although the head of the National Movement of Amhara’s political party, Belete Molla, claimed to be Gumuz militia members. The ruling party in the region, the Benishangul-Gumuz Prosperity Party, said in a statement that “armed bandits” had committed a “horrific crime”, as reported by the Associated Press (AP).
Amharas are the second most populous ethnic group in Ethiopia and have received repeated attention in recent weeks. A rebel attack on November 1 in the western Oromia region killed at least 54 people, according to Amnesty International.
An attack in the Benishangul-Gumuz region in early October killed at least 14 civilians, according to a security authority. There were similar deadly attacks in September that also moved over 300 people, leading the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to say it was deeply concerned.
Earlier on Thursday, Abiy wrote on his Twitter account that “the government, in order to solve the root causes of the problem, has deployed a necessary force” in the region bordering Sudan.
“The massacre of civilians in the Benishangul-Gumuz region is very tragic,” he told Reuters.
Ethiopia has struggled with outbreaks of violence since Abiy was appointed in 2018 and accelerated democratic reforms that released the state’s iron grip on regional rivalries. Fana TV reported on Thursday that the government military had killed “42 anti-peace elements”, without saying when the conflict took place or identified the armed men. It is said that the armed group had participated in Wednesday’s attack in Bulen County, with reference to regional officials.
The Ethiopian State News Agency (ENA) reported that five senior officials, including a prime minister of the federal government, have been arrested in connection with security issues in Benishangul-Gumuz.
In a separate part of the country, the Ethiopian military has been fighting rebels in the separate northern Tigray region for more than six weeks in a conflict that has displaced more than 950,000 people. The deployment of federal troops there has led to fears of a security vacuum in other recovery regions.
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