Clashes between rival ethnic groups in Ethiopia’s Oromiya region has led to the deaths of more than 60 people, according to authorities.
Last week 29 people from the Oromos ethnic group were killed by people from the ethnic Somali in the region’s Hawi Gudina and Daro Lebu districts.
According to officials this attack triggered a reprisal attack by the ethnic Oromos in another district in which 32 Somalis were killed.
In a statement an official of the region where the violence has been taking place said “The region is working to bring the perpetrators to justice”.
Although the actual cause of the clashes has not been confirmed yet, it is believed the clashes are as a result of recent protests in Oromiya’s in which 16 ethnic Oromos were shot dead by soldiers trying to disperse the crowd.
“We do not know who ordered the deployment of the military. This illegal act should be punished,” the region’s president Lema Megersa is quoted by Reuters to have said.
Nearly 700 people were killed last year in one bout of unrest provoked by plans to implement a development scheme for Addis Ababa that opponents said amounted to a land grab, according to a parliament-mandated investigation.
Some 600 people have been displaced by the conflict which has persisted for months.
Source: Africafeeds.com
