More than 200 killed in Ethiopia in alleged ethnic attack, witnesses say

Witnesses in Ethiopia stated Sunday that greater than 200 ethnic Amhara have been killed in an assault within the nation’s Oromia area and are blaming a insurgent group, which denies it.

It is without doubt one of the deadliest such assaults in latest reminiscence as ethnic tensions proceed in Africa’s second most populous nation.

“I’ve counted 230 our bodies. I’m afraid that is the deadliest assault towards civilians we have now seen in our lifetime,” Abdul-Seid Tahir, a resident of Gimbi county, instructed The Related Press after barely escaping the assault on Saturday. “We’re burying them in mass graves, and we’re nonetheless gathering our bodies. Federal military models have now arrived, however we worry that the assaults might proceed in the event that they depart.”

One other witness, who gave solely his first identify, Shambel over fears for his security, stated the native Amhara neighborhood is now desperately looking for to be relocated some other place “earlier than one other spherical of mass killings occur.” He stated ethnic Amhara that settled within the space about 30 years in the past in resettlement packages at the moment are being “killed like chickens.”

Each witnesses blamed the Oromo Liberation Military for the assaults. In an announcement, the Oromia regional authorities additionally blamed the OLA, saying the rebels attacked “after being unable to withstand the operations launched by (federal) safety forces.”

An OLA spokesman, Odaa Tarbii, denied the allegations.

“The assault you’re referring to was dedicated by the regime’s army and native militia as they retreated from their camp in Gimbi following our latest offensive,” he stated in a message to the AP. “They escaped to an space known as Tole, the place they attacked the native inhabitants and destroyed their property as retaliation for his or her perceived help for the OLA. Our fighters had not even reached that space when the assaults passed off.”

Ethiopia is experiencing widespread ethnic tensions in a number of areas, most of them over historic grievances and political tensions. The Amhara individuals, the second-largest ethnic group amongst Ethiopia’s greater than 110 million inhabitants, have been focused incessantly in areas like Oromia.

The federal government-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Fee on Sunday known as on the federal authorities discover a “lasting resolution” to the killing of civilians and shield them from such assaults.