Amnesty: More than 100 killed in massacre in Ethiopia

Amnesty: More than 100 killed in massacre in Ethiopia; alleged perpetrators murdered

According to Amnesty International, more than 100 people were killed in a massacre in western Ethiopia. On Wednesday morning, gunmen attacked members of the Amhara, Oromo and Shinasha population groups in villages in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, the human rights organization said. People were stabbed and shot and houses were burned.

Amnesty said it spoke to five survivors of the attack by phone. There have been reports of at least 100 deaths so far, but the number is likely to increase. The regional news agency for the Amhara region, the Amhara Media Agency, reported that eyewitnesses spoke of several dozen deaths and houses burned.

This brutal attack underscores the “urgent need for the Ethiopian government to act to stop violence against ethnic minorities,” said Amnesty International’s Netsanet Belay. Since September there have been several waves of violence against members of the Amhara, Shinasha, Oromo and Agew in this region.

Suspected perpetrators murdered

The government of the Benishangul-Gumuz region announced on Thursday that around 42 gunmen who were behind Wednesday’s attack were “destroyed” by the Ethiopian army. Five senior officials from the region were also detained. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on Facebook that a task force had been dispatched to the affected region.

In the multi-ethnic state of Ethiopia, with about 112 million inhabitants, there is a lot of tension between population groups. They have risen with Abiy Ahmed, who has been in power since 2018. There is currently a conflict in the northern Tigray region between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which was in power there, and the central government in Addis. Abeba. (cki / sda / dpa)