The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Friday said it received reports that 145 civilians including women and children have been kidnapped by armed men in the country’s Benishangul Gumuz regional state.
The commission in a statement said the ethnic Gumuz armed men have taken hostages of their own people accusing them of failing to extend support and backing their armed struggle.
According to the commission, the kidnapping took place at places called “Mershaw” and “Ekfete” in the Kemashi zone of the regional state and two of the hostages were killed by the armed men.
In April, the armed group took control of a Sedal district, an area of some 25,000 people in the same zone, the state-appointed EHRC said.
“Residents who have fled the area told EHRC that the armed group has kidnapped the civilians since last week and burned down and looted public and private property,” the commission said
The conflict-ridden Benishangul-Gumuz region hosts the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and has been under military command amid a recent surge in attacks on civilians, including the massacre of more than 200 civilians last December.
The Ethiopian government has accused armed groups of trying to thwart the construction of the controversial mega dam on the Nile River, which is a source of dispute between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan.
MG/abj/APA