BAUCHI, Nigeria (Reuters) - An armed gang killed at least 34 people in attacks on villages in northwest Nigeria, police said on Sunday, part of a wave of violence the government has blamed on bandits.

Hundreds of people have died in the northwest region this year, adding to security problems in a country already struggling with Islamist insurgencies in the northeast and a brutal conflict between farmers and herders in central states.

The armed gang came to unprotected villages in the northwestern state of Zamfara on Friday night, killing 34 people, said Muhammed Shehu, police spokesman for the state.

People from the village told Reuters the attackers escaped.

“We heard gunshots and saw people running for shelter, chased by men on motorbikes,” said Shehu Shinkafi.

“We immediately took cover in a house nearby, and after the bandits were done with their killing spree they moved to a nearby village,” he said, adding he counted 12 bodies in his village alone.

The gang left without any resistance as there were no security agents in the area, and it was only after the massacre that police arrived hours later, Shinkafi and two other witnesses said. </s> 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 (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> Twelve people have been killed in an overnight attack at Bishaaro Hotel in Mandera Town, northeast Kenya, by suspected Al-Shabaab gunmen, police confirmed on Tuesday.

Mandera East police boss Ezekiel Singoe said the 12 included 10 who were visiting for set-book performances at secondary schools in the county.

He said the 10 had arrived in Mandera on Monday to stage plays for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam candidates.

The police boss said they were still identifying the bodies.

The attackers used improvised explosive devices to break the metallic doors at the lodge before shooting the 12 dead in their rooms. They included eleven men and one woman.

Each room in the hotel accommodated four to six people.

It is the second Shabaab strike in Mandera in three weeks. The previous one on October 6 killed six people at a gated residential building that mainly housed non-ethnic Somalis and non-Muslims, less than a kilometre from the volatile Somalia border town of Beled Hawa.

Mandera governor Ali Roba said the raids were designed to divide communities and destroy the economy.

"This is an attack that is aimed at making sure we don't attract investors, we do not attract a professional workforce, we do not have interaction with the rest of the country," Roba told a press conference on Tuesday morning.

Northeastern regional security boss Mohamoud Saleh said he suspected "local criminal gangs" of complicity since border security had been stepped up after the October 6 attack.

Mandera County police commander Job Boronjo on Tuesday morning confirmed the attack but said police were yet to get more details about deaths or injuries as it was still dark in the area.

"We are monitoring the situation. My officers are on the ground. We will give the details when the day breaks," Mr Boronjo said from Garissa, where he was attending an official meeting. </s> Ethiopia says plotter of failed coup is killed by military

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The Ethiopian army brigadier general accused of leading a failed coup against a regional government has been killed in a firefight with the security forces, a spokesman for the Ethiopian prime minister's office said Monday.

Brig. Gen. Asamnew Tsige was killed on the outskirts of Bahir Dar, capital of the restive northern Amhara region, Nigussu Tilahun told The Associated Press.

Ethiopian forces had been hunting down Asamnew since soldiers loyal to him on Saturday attacked a meeting of the Amhara government, killing the regional governor and his adviser.

That attack was followed hours later by the assassination in Addis Ababa of the chief of Ethiopia's military and a retired army general by a bodyguard.

An internet shutdown remains in force across Ethiopia following the Saturday killings.

Ethiopian military have set up checkpoints in the capital and in the Amhara region.

Flags are flying at half-mast Monday which has been declared a day of national mourning following the four killings. </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. </s> A suicide car bomb exploded outside a military base for Ethiopian soldiers in southern Somalia on Saturday, leaving an unspecified number of casualties, a police official said.

Islamist group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the assault and said it had killed 16 Ethiopian soldiers, although the claim could not be independently verified.

A local elder who witnessed the attack told Reuters the explosion had killed 10 people including soldiers and civilians. "The mini bus was very dusty, it must have come from a far region, it was fired (on) as it started speeding up," he said.

Police officer Major Nur Abdullahi told Reuters from the town of Bardheere where the attack occurred that the vehicle involved was a mini bus carrying vegetables as a disguise. </s> Gunmen from an extremist group killed 12 people in an attack targeting non-Muslims in Kenya's northern Mandera County, near the Somali border, an official said Tuesday.

Somali-based extremist group al-Shabab is suspected of carrying out the early-morning attack on the Bishaaro Guest House, said Mohamed Saleh, Mandera's regional commander.

The gunmen used grenades and improvised explosive devices to break into the guest house and then stormed in with guns, he said.

Al-Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops into Somalia since 2011 to fight the militants, who are waging an insurgency against Somalia's weak, Western-backed government. Kenyan security forces have managed to stop the wave of al-Shabab attacks in major cities in Kenya that have killed hundreds.

However, Mandera County remains a volatile area. Al-Shabab militants hijacked a bus in Mandera in November 2014 and killed 28 non-Muslims on board. In December 2014 they killed 36 quarry workers. This year six people had previously been killed, in July when gunmen shot at buses and on Oct. 6, when al-Shabab gunmen targeted a residential compound full of non-Muslims.

The campaign of attacks targeting non-Muslims has had a devastating impact on education. Many non-Muslim teachers have asked to be transferred from the region, causing a crisis in learning as they form the backbone of the teaching community. </s> Nairobi. Twelve people have been killed in an overnight attack at Bishaaro Hotel in Mandera Town by suspected Al-Shabaab gunmen, police confirmed on Tuesday.

Mandera East police boss (OCPD) Ezekiel Singoe said the 12 included 10 who were visiting for set-book performances at schools in the county.

He said the 10 had arrived in Mandera on Monday to stage plays for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam candidates.

The police boss said they were still identifying the bodies.

The attackers used improvised explosive devices to break the metallic doors at the lodge before shooting the 12 dead in their rooms.

Each room in the hotel accommodated four to six people.

Mandera County Police Commander Job Boronjo on Tuesday morning confirmed the attack but said police were yet to get more details about deaths or injuries as it was still dark in the area.

"We are monitoring the situation. My officers are on the ground. We will give the details when the day breaks," Mr Boronjo said from Garissa, where he was attending an official meeting.

Asked about the exact place of the attack, Mr Boronjo said by phone: "Lets not go into details for now please. Lets wait for update as the day breaks."
Men in camouflage kill 50 in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia (Reuters)