Ethiopia deploys forces after gunmen kill dozens in Benishangul-Gumuz region

Addis Ababa  —  Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday he had deployed forces to the western Benishangul-Gumuz region, a day after gunmen killed more than 100 people in the area, which has seen regular ethnic violence.

On Wednesday, the state-run Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said gunmen had killed about 100 people in a dawn attack in the village of Bekoji in Bulen county in the Metekel zone, an area where numerous ethnic groups live.

“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.”

Africa's second-most populous nation has been wrestling with outbreaks of deadly violence since Abiy took office in 2018 and accelerated democratic and economic reforms that have loosened the state's iron grip on regional rivalries.

Residents on Wednesday described seeing dozens of dead bodies and being chased by unknown gunmen shooting at locals.

Abiy and senior officials had visited the region on Tuesday to call for calm after multiple deadly attacks in recent months, such as a November 14 assault in which gunmen targeted a bus and killed 34 people.

In a separate part of the country, Ethiopia's military has been fighting rebels in the northern Tigray region for more than six weeks in a conflict that has displaced close to 950,000 people. The deployment of federal troops there has led to fears of a security vacuum in other restive regions.

Ethiopia is also fighting an insurgency in the Oromiya region and faces long-running security threats from Somali Islamist militants along its porous eastern border.

Elections due in 2021 have further inflamed simmering tensions over land, power and resources.

Gashu Dugaz, a senior regional security official, said authorities  were verifying the identities of the attackers and the victims in Benishangul-Gumuz, but did not give further information.

The region is home to several ethnic groups including the Gumuz people. But in recent years farmers and businessmen from the neighbouring Amhara region have begun moving into the area, prompting some Gumuz to complain that fertile land has been taken.

Some Amhara leaders are now saying that some of the land in the region — especially in the Metekel zone — rightfully belongs to them, claims that have angered Gumuz people.

“In previous attacks it was people who came from 'the forest' who were involved but, in this case, victims said they knew the people involved in the attack,” the rights commission said in its statement.

Belay Wajera, a farmer in the western town of Bulen, said  he counted 82 dead bodies in a field near his home after Wednesday's raid. He and his family awoke to the sound of gunshots and ran out of their home as men shouted “catch them”, he said. His wife and five of his children were shot dead, he was shot in the buttocks while four other children escaped and are now missing, Wajera said by phone late on Wednesday.

Another resident of the town, Hassen Yimama, said armed men stormed the area about 6am. He counted 20 bodies in a different location. He grabbed his own weapon but assailants shot him in the stomach.

A local medic said he and colleagues treated 38 injured people, most suffering from gunshot wounds. Patients told him of relatives who were killed with knives and told him that gunmen set houses on fire and shot at people trying to escape, he said.

“The desire by enemies to divide Ethiopia along ethnic and religious lines still exists. This desire will remain unfulfilled,” Abiy tweeted  along with photos of his meetings in  Metekel.

Reuters