Ethiopia’s army killed 42 armed men who were allegedly involved in the massacring of more than 100 civilians in fresh ethnic-based attacks in Benishangul-Gumuz region, an official has said.
The region’s communication office head Meles Beyene said government forces also seized several firearms from the armed men.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday he was sending forces to Benishangul-Gumuz, which borders Sudan, the day after the unidentified gunmen torched homes and killed more than 100 people in a village there.
Ethiopia has been grappling with outbreaks of deadly violence since Abiy was appointed in 2018 and accelerated political reforms that loosened the state’s iron grip on regional rivalries.
Elections due next year have further inflamed rivalries over land, power and resources.
The latest violence comes as Ethiopia’s military has been battling a rebellious force in the separate northern Tigray region, with a mass deployment of troops that has raised fears of a security vacuum in other areas.
“The massacre of civilians in Benishangul-Gumuz region is very tragic,” Abiy said on Twitter. “The government, to solve the root causes of the problem, has deployed a necessary force.”
Wednesday’s dawn raid on the village of Bekoji in Bulen county killed more than 100 people, the state-run Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said.
MG/abj/APA