ADDIS ABABA: At least 40 people were killed by security forces in eastern Ethiopia at the weekend, a senior regional official said on Monday.

"The victims were all ethnic Oromos. The perpetrators were members of a paramilitary force," said Negeri Lencho, spokesman for the Oromiya state administration.

The area has been plagued by instability. </s> ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - At least 40 people were killed by paramilitary forces in eastern Ethiopia over the weekend, in the latest spate of violence driven by ethnic divisions, a senior regional official said on Monday.

The unrest along the border of the country’s Somali and Oromiya provinces has displaced nearly a million people.

On Monday, the Oromiya regional administration’s spokesman Negeri Lencho said “heavily-armed” members of a paramilitary force from the Somali region had carried out cross-border attacks in Oromiya’s East Hararghe district.

“We still do not know why Liyu forces raided the areas on Saturday and Sunday,” he said, referring to the paramilitary soldiers.

“But we know that all the victims were ethnic Oromos. At least 40 were killed in the attacks.”

A week earlier, mobs looted properties owned by ethnic minorities in the Somali region’s capital Jijiga. The central government said the unrest had been stoked by regional officials who had fallen out with central authorities trying to address rights abuses in the region.

He said the officials claimed the government was illegally forcing them to resign, and that paramilitaries had taken part in the attacks under their orders.

Officials in Oromiya blamed the Liyu force for repeated attacks last year. Authorities in the Somali region were not immediately available for comment.

Ethnic violence has spread since protests broke out in the Oromiya region over land rights in 2015. Hundreds were killed by security forces over a two-year period. </s> ADDIS ABABA - At least 40 people were killed by paramilitary forces in eastern Ethiopia over the weekend, a senior regional official said on Monday, in the latest spate of violence driven by ethnic divisions.

Unrest first broke out along the border of the country's Somali and Oromiya provinces in September, displacing nearly a million people, though the violence had subsided by April.

On Monday, the Oromiya regional administration's spokesman Negeri Lencho said heavily armed members of a paramilitary force from the Somali region had carried out cross-border attacks in Oromiya's East Hararghe district.

"We still do not know why Liyu forces raided the areas on Saturday and Sunday," he said, referring to the paramilitary soldiers. "But we know that all the victims were ethnic Oromos. At least 40 were killed in the attacks."

A week earlier, mobs looted properties owned by ethnic minorities in the Somali region's capital Jijiga. The central government said the unrest had been stoked by regional officials who had fallen out with central authorities trying to address rights abuses in the region.

The spokesman said the officials had said the government was illegally forcing them to resign, and that Liyu forces had taken part in the attacks under their orders.

The forces are seen as loyal to the region's leader Abdi Mohammed Omer, who has since resigned.

Authorities in the Somali region were not immediately available for comment.

Ethnic violence has spread in the diverse country of 100 million people, where anti-government protests broke out in the Oromiya region over land rights in 2015. Hundreds were killed by security forces over a two-year period.

The violence is the biggest domestic challenge facing reformist prime minister Abiy Ahmed, who took office in April.

In a separate incident, a stampede among thousands who attended a visit by a prominent political activist in the town of Shashemene killed three people on Sunday, officials from the Oromiya regional government said.

The event was held to mark the return to Ethiopia of Jawar Mohammed, an activist who had been in exile in the United States but played a key role in mobilizing Oromo youths through social media.

Amid the chaos, another person was beaten to death by a mob after rumors circulated he had carried a bomb, residents said.

"Police did not take action while all that took place," the witness told Reuters. "It is an example of the lawlessness that is taking root in the country." </s> ADDIS ABABA (ETHIOPIA): At least 58 people were killed during a weekend of ethnic violence in Ethiopia's capital, an Amnesty International researcher told AFP on Wednesday, citing a figure more than double the government estimate of 23 dead.

Another source involved in the investigation, who saw and counted the corpses, told AFP a total of 65 people had been killed, mostly in the city's western suburbs.

"The 65 cases are from Burayu, Ashewa Meda, Kolfe and Kirkos," said the source on condition of anonymity, referring to three western areas and one in the centre.

The victims were either stabbed or died after being beaten with sticks and rocks.

None had been shot and the toll does not include five alleged looters killed by police on Monday.

Fisseha Tekle, a Nairobi-based researcher with Amnesty International, said he had compiled a similar tally of 58 dead.

Residents told Amnesty International they saw "eight dead bodies on Friday, 21 on Saturday, on Sunday they saw about 11 people and on Monday the number of dead bodies they've seen were 18," Fisseha said.

Government spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment.

The violence began last week in the run-up to Saturday's return of the once-banned Oromo Liberation Front, a rebel group that returned to Ethiopia following political reforms introduced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. </s> No fewer than 23 people were killed in a weekend of violence targeting minorities in the ethnic Oromo heartland near Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, a police source said.

The unrest followed a mass rally on Saturday marking the return to Ethiopia of the leadership of the exiled Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) group, which had fought an insurgency for self-determination for Oromos, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group.

The incidents are the latest in a spate of ethnic unrest — including the displacement of nearly 1 million people in another part of the country — since reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in April, the first Oromo ruler in the ethnically diverse Ethiopia’s modern history.

Local residents said shops were looted and people attacked by Oromo youth who stormed through streets targeting businesses and homes of ethnic minorities. The violence escalated on Saturday after two days of sporadic attacks in several areas of the Oromiya region’s Burayu district northwest of Addis Ababa, residents said.

“Mobs of ethnic Oromo youth then marched here in Ashwa Meda and attacked our homes and looted businesses chanting ‘leave our land’,” said Hassan Ibrahim, a trader in an ethnically diverse part of the district told Reuters by telephone.(Reuters) </s> A police source says at least 23 people were killed in a weekend of violence targeting minorities in the ethnic Oromo heartland near Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

The unrest followed a mass rally on Saturday marking the return to Ethiopia of the leadership of the exiled Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) group, which had fought an insurgency for self-determination for Oromos, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group.

The incidents are the latest in a spate of ethnic unrest -- including the displacement of nearly 1 million people in another part of the country -- since reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in April, the first Oromo ruler in the ethnically diverse Ethiopia's modern history.

Local residents said shops were looted and people attacked by Oromo youths who stormed through streets targeting businesses and homes of ethnic minorities.

The violence escalated on Saturday after two days of sporadic attacks in several areas of the Oromiya region's Burayu district northwest of Addis Ababa, residents said.

"Mobs of ethnic Oromo youth then marched here in Ashwa Meda and attacked our homes and looted businesses chanting 'leave our land'," Hassan Ibrahim, a trader in an ethnically diverse part of the district, told Reuters by telephone. "By night time, there were several dead bodies along roads."

Alemayehu Ejigu, head of Oromiya region's police commission, said more than 70 people had been arrested, and denied accusations that police were slow to respond.

"They (mobs) do not represent anyone - they had no reason other than theft. Anyone has the constitutional right to reside in Oromiya or anywhere." </s> Ethiopian police in the restive Amhara region in the north confirmed Sunday that seven people were killed when worshippers celebrating the Epiphany holiday clashed with security forces.

The killings on Saturday in the town of Woldiya, 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of the capital Addis Ababa, happened on the second day of the colorful Epiphany celebrations in this East African nation.

Amare Goshu, a police official in the region, told the state-owned Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation that seven people died, including one security officer, during the confrontation. He said that the security forces responded with force when youths in the town tried to attack officers who were patrolling the holiday procession areas. "More than 15 citizens and 2 police officers were also injured and are now receiving treatment," he said. </s> Addis Ababa (AFP) - At least 58 people were killed during ethnic violence at the weekend on the outskirts of Ethiopia's capital, an Amnesty International researcher told AFP on Wednesday.

And another source involved in the investigation, who saw and counted the corpses, told AFP a total of 65 people had been killed, mostly in the city's western suburbs.

The figures are more than twice that given by state media which on Monday said the death toll from violence in and around Burayu stood at 23.

Fighting broke out last week in Burayu, a western suburb of Addis Ababa, and continued through the weekend, forcing hundreds to flee and sparking protests that paralysed the city on Monday during which police killed five people.

Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, the investigation source said most of the deaths had occurred in the city's western suburbs although others were killed in the centre.

"The 65 cases are from Burayu, Ashewa Meda, Kolfe and Kirkos," the source said, referring to three areas in the west and Kirkos in the centre.

Some of the victims had been stabbed while others died after being beaten with sticks and rocks.

None had been shot and the toll does not include five alleged looters killed by police on Monday.

- Targeted by Oromo mobs -

Fisseha Tekle, a Nairobi-based researcher with Amnesty International, said he had compiled a similar tally of 58 dead.

Residents told Amnesty International they saw "eight dead bodies on Friday, 21 on Saturday," he said.

"On Sunday they saw about 11 people and on Monday the number of dead bodies they've seen was 18."

Government spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment.

Burayu lies on the outskirts of Addis Ababa but within the Oromia region that surrounds the capital and which is home to the Oromo people, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group.

People who fled the clashes told AFP they were targeted by Oromo mobs because they are members of minority ethnic groups.

- Police failings -

Fisseha said the government must investigate the conduct of the Oromia and federal police, whom he accused of failing to quell the violence.

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"They have to investigate why they have not responded on time, why they have failed to protect the vulnerable communities there," Fisseha said.

The violence began last week in the run-up to Saturday's return of the once-banned Oromo Liberation Front, a rebel group that returned to Ethiopia following a string of radical political reforms pushed through by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

An Oromo himself, Abiy took power in April and has won popularity for his aggressive reform agenda which has seen him freeing jailed dissidents and overhauling the security services, who have long been accused of violating human rights.

He has also pushed through a landmark peace deal with Eritrea, which was signed in July, ending two decades of enmity sparked by a border conflict.

But bloody ethnic clashes have broken out repeatedly since his inauguration, with the worst clashes occurring in the south where fighting between the Oromo and Gedeo minority has displaced nearly one million people. </s> Mass grave of 200 people uncovered in Ethiopia, say police

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia's state affiliated broadcaster says police have uncovered a mass grave of 200 people in the troubled area between the country's Oromia and Somali regions.

Fana Broadcasting reported Thursday evening that police were carrying out a court-ordered investigation for evidence of alleged abuses by forces loyal to the former president of the Somali region, Abdi Mohammed, who is now in detention.

The Fana report said that police were granted 14 days to unearth and do forensic examinations on the estimated 200 bodies that have been found.

The bodies appear to be related to a series of ethnic clashes carried out by an unofficial militia known as the Liyu that were loyal to the former Somali region leader. In August, Ethiopian officials said the Liyu carried out an attack that killed 41 people and injured 20 others. Human Rights Watch accused the Liyu of carrying out a brutal and relentless pattern of abuse, torture, rape and humiliation in the region.

Several hundred others were also reportedly killed when ethnic Somalis and Oromos clashed in border areas over claims to land and other resources in previous months.

A number of ethnic-based conflicts have raged across Ethiopia posing the most serious challenge to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed since he came to power in April.
At least 40 people are killed by paramilitary forces in eastern Ethiopia, in the latest spate of violence driven by ethnic divisions.